The Cascade Quartet's "Schubert and Friends" concert, April 6

The Cascade Quartet yesterday performed the grueling, yet satisfying piece, Schubert's "String Quintet in C Major," along with Lucie Vellère's "String Quartet No. 3 and "ECHOES" by visiting composer Chen Zhangyi.

The Cascade Quartet and Fern Glass Boyd

Guest cellist Fern Glass Boyd joined the quartet for the Schubert piece, as well.
Everyone should see the show, there's one more on Tuesday at the Russell Museum, just for the chance to hear the Schubert piece, which, is as close to perfection as a string quartet can get in terms of source material. The sweeping highs, the quiet lows, the richness that Boyd brings to the piece is a magical journey of classical sounds you really have to hear for yourself.

Nothing I say about the piece likely will change anybody's opinion -- it's a legitimate masterpiece placed in the hands of professional musicians. But, if you have not heard it, consider checking it out, even if you're not a purveyor of fine culture.

The final movement, to me, is quite unlike any other I've ever heard. As they wrapped it all up, I envisioned what it must have been like to first hear it played in front of thousands of people in the late 1800s, and the adoration that likely followed.

While there probably weren't that many people at Sunday's show, the standing ovation the audience gave was much deserved.

Before the quartet dived into the Schubert, they played an avant-gardeish piece from Zhangyi, a Singapore native living in Baltimore.

Zhangyi spoke about the piece beforehand, and he suggested folks think of actual echoes as they listened to the sounds.

I found myself a little unsure of it at first, but once I accepted that it's not supposed to sound like Beethoven or Bach or, well, Schubert, I started to see more of its brilliance.

The piece likely won't appeal as much to fans of "conventional" classical music. There's a real purposeful unsettling feeling throughout, punctuated by the picks and plucks each of the performers played.

As I was listening to it, I felt it swell like a wave of sound masked as water expanding and retracting onto the shoreline. There were several moments where I would close my eyes and I'd feel like I could see what the echoes might look like as they were being played.

If I had any complaints about the show, it's that for people sitting in the back rows, you couldn't quite see the performers entirely because they are at ground level inside the chapel. Having them on an elevated platform might help alleviate that. You could hear them wonderfully, however, as the acoustics in the room are quite good.

The performers all were dressed in professional dresses and suits (Well, Thad, was, at least seeing as he was the only male performer,) so it's a bit of a shame I wasn't able to see them better from the back.

They play at a different venue on Tuesday, the C.M. Russell Museum, however, so it's likely easier to see them there.

It also would have been nice to see them play an encore after the roaring applause died down. Having just played the mammoth 55-minute Schubert piece, however, I think the audience can understand how they might have been a tad bit exhausted.

All and all I enjoyed the performance and felt honored to have heard it played by such a talented group of musicians.

You still have another chance to check out the show -- they play again Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Russell Museum.