Last Saturday, the Slosberg Recital Hall played host to the Lydian String Quartet, a critically-acclaimed group of Brandeis music faculty formed in 1980, who performed a show featuring the music of Franz Joseph Haydn, Vincent Persichetti and Ludwig van Beethoven in an array of classical and avant-garde pieces.The quartet, featuring Daniel Stepner and Judith Eissenberg on violin, Mary Ruth Ray on viola and Joshua Gordon on cello, is in its fourth year of a five-year study of Viennese quartets, as well as into the works of numerous other composers.

The Lydians have performed widely across the United States and Europe and are the recipients of several major awards, including the Naumburg Award for chamber music and recording grants from the Aaron Copland Foundation.

The chemistry between the players and their musical exchanges was flawless and colorful. The first piece they performed was Haydn's Quartet in E-Flat Major, also known as "The Joke," composed in 1781.

The composition breaks into four sections: "Allegro moderato," "Scherzo: Allegro," "Largo e sostenuto," and "Finale: Presto." The first theme, led by Stepner's violin, was playful and simple and the other players provided an appropriate backdrop.

Another aspect of the quartet's cohesiveness was evident through body language: The quartet swerved backwards and forwards together with the music as they played. The violins and viola completed each other's phrases, and the melody, like the musicians' bodies, playfully swerved up and down.

The piece then slowed down, the Lydians taking turns with the lead and even allowing space in the music to be created by pauses between musical phrases. Finally, the music sped up with the violins playing short, quick notes, building up excitement through powerful chords and an increased volume.

Here, the audience discovered why the piece is called "The Joke." The original melody was repeated several times, slower and slower and with longer pauses each time. The final pause was the longest, and the musicians kept their instruments raised as though they were about to continue, but, after remaining motionless for perhaps an entire minute, they lowered their instruments, much to the delight of the "teased" audience. "It's remarkably funny in my mind, just because it's so inappropriate," remarked Stepner.

The next composition was "Parable X," a string quartet from 1973 written by Persichetti, a Philadelphian composer. This 10th parable out of a series of 20 was a highly dissonant, atonal work. Without a unifying melody or background, the musicians' performance included seemingly random interjections and contrapuntal progressions that left the listener's mind struggling to find a foundation in the music. At points, the pizzicato cello gave the music a looming feeling, while other sections were busy and intense, with all four Lydians joining together for well-synchronized musical thumps. The music slowed down at times, reminding this writer of old "alien horror movie" soundtracks.

After the intermission, Beethoven's "Quartet in E-Flat Major" was a complete departure from the previous composition. Containing a full-sounding melody and beautiful, sweeping long tones combined with sporadic quick phrases, the quartet found the Lydians performing at their best. The piece's long, harmonious tones and delicate melody were easy on the ear. The violins and viola's flighty play and the cello's deep accompaniment were a perfect finale to a night of pleasing classical music.