On Saturday, March 26, the Lydian String Quartet performed in Slosberg Music Center for the group's 30th anniversary. The quartet is composed of Profs. Daniel Stepner (MUS) and Judith Eissenberg (MUS) on violin, Prof. Mary Ruth Ray (MUS) on viola and Prof. Joshua Gordon (MUS) on cello. Chair of Chamber Music and member of the cello faculty at the Boston Conservatory Rhonda Rider played cello with the quartet at Saturday night's performace. The Lydian String Quartet, originally formed in 1980, is an internationally acclaimed music group. The quartet members offered their "thoughts on turning 30" in the concert's program notes, writing: "This is the Lydian String Quartet's 30th anniversary at Brandeis, and we want to acknowledge our fortunate situation-that of being a truly resident quartet at a research university." The quartet explained that they do more than merely perform at Brandeis. "We teach classes, private lessons and chamber groups and do administrative work, from student advising and committee work to chairing the department. The quartet has been involved in MusicUnitesUS, [a program which aims to further the understanding and appreciation of diverse cultures through music], founded and directed by Lydian violinist Prof. Judith Eissenberg (MUS) performing non-traditional quartets from around the world. We have more than twenty-five commercial recordings out, and will soon be issuing our 3-CD box set of the late Beethoven quartets."

In an interview with justArts, Gordon talked about his experience playing in the quartet: "As in any kind of collaborative team, being in a string quartet is both a commitment and a challenge. As a commitment, we have to be both fully prepared to play our individual parts well and knowledgeable about what role we play at any moment within the full score. As a challenge, how does one create one unified performance out of four strong musical personalities, with ideas that may or may not agree with regard to questions of musical characterization, phrasing, articulation, tone color, tempo-the list could go on and on." Gordon notes: "The combination of being with the quartet and [teaching] at Brandeis has been an inspiration to me, and working with all the talented and enthusiastic students over the last 8 years here has been a source of joy."

Before the concert began, there was a brief pre-concert lecture led by Stepner. In his speech, Stepner explained that the quartet "gives more weight" to its last pieces and makes the first pieces shorter. Stepner went on to provide a background for the concert pieces, explaining that the first piece was composed by Franz Josef Haydn. It is titled "The Joke" because it contains "musical punch lines." For example, "the scherzo features a midsection that satirizes playing in bad taste. Haydn gives no verbal instructions to that effect; rather the fingerings he puts in the first violin's part (something composers rarely do) require a sliding around the fingerboard that projects a sort of unconscious incompetence." Stepner went on to talk about American composer Irving Fine. Fine taught at Brandeis, where he became the chairman of the Council of the School of Creative Arts in 1952, and he "put all three creative arts departments on the map." Stepner quoted Fine as saying that "in the arts, learning is bound up with doing. We wish our students to have a liberal education, but we should also like to avoid the pitfalls of scholarly dilettantism. Performance by students must be stimulated by the presence of a performing faculty, and if we wish to stimulate musical creativity, we must also give the creators a chance to hear their music." Stepner then discussed Swiss composer Frank Martin, and lastly, Stepner talked about composer Franz Schubert. Schubert's last chamber work, "The Quintet," was completed a month before his death, and so "the piece is life affirming, but still leaves a sense that our lives are short-lived."

Then, University President Frederick Lawrence, a music lover and musician himself, gave a speech. Lawrence explained: "[Brandeis is] not a very large community, but we are not a place of isolated people either. We are a community that engages, challenges, and builds great things. There is no greater symbol of this than the Lydian String Quartet."

The quartet began playing. They started with Hayden's "The Joke" and followed with Fine's "String Quartet." After intermission, the quartet played Martin's "Pavane Couleur du Temps and they ended by playing Schubert's "Quintet in C Major, Op. 163." Each piece was beautiful and riveting; the Lydian members are true masters of their art. Last Saturday's concert emphasized how fortunate we are to have them in our community.