Galilee String Quartet Review – The Palestinian group develops their signature east and west | Classical music

‘WI’ve done many concerts, but this is the first time I’m worried.” The first musician agreed with a smile and lowered his instrument before a single note had been played.” But before he could sing the story, the singer was interrupted by the singer. he despises them.

A string quartet is often compared to a four-way wedding. But what if the power was close to the four brothers? One group that doesn’t have to guess the answer is the Saad family: brothers Omar, Mostafa and Gandhi, and sister Tibah – AKA the Galilee String Quartet.

Founded in 2011, the Palestinian group was forced into hiatus in 2013 when its older brother. Omar was called up for military service by the Israeli IDF. Refusing to serve, he was imprisoned for conscientious objection. The quartet is currently based in Paris, honoring their East-meets-West music mix.

Webern’s musical letter Langsamer Satz was a brilliant opening. The only classic work on the program, it was as if the quartet wanted to prove that it could play straight, before moving away from traditional designs and instruments, selling acoustic mics, exchanging strings for voice, percussion and oud.

For the last two episodes, the soundtrack disappeared again. “We understand!” Mostafa announced. And, without anything between them, his brothers finally started to play where they talk to each other: arguing, arguing and chasing each other, attentive to the dynamic movements and ideas in two compositions created (as the majority of the program) by Mostafa himself: an interesting combination of western methods and genres compatible with singing, Arabic music or Arabic music.

But most evenings felt like work was being done. The Webern was crippled, with irregular planning and irregular shape. Arrangements of Fairrouz’s Yallah Tnam Rima and Asmahan and Emta Hata’raf’s Ya Habibi Ta’ala (both sung with effortless, mesmerizing beauty by choreographer Tibah) failed to make use of the available resources. Only Gandhi’s Sama’l Eitab – bringing the worlds together in the “song of mockery”, now flirting with the Piazzolla tango, now the baroque cadenza – violin cadenza – began to explore what he called “the complex story of the group as musicians and people”.