# Dublin Guitar Quartet at Herbst Theatre, November 10, 2023

[San Francisco Performances](https://www.google.com/search?q=%22Herbst%20Theatre%22+Dublin%20Guitar%20Quartet) presents [Dublin Guitar Quartet](https://www.dublinguitarquartet.com/)  
[Herbst Theatre](http://www.sfwmpac.org/herbst-theatre)  
[Veterans' Building, San Francisco War Memorial Performing Arts Center, 401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102-4522 USA](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Veterans'+Building,+San+Francisco+War+Memorial+Performing+Arts+Center,+401+Van+Ness+Avenue,+San+Francisco,+CA+94102-4522+USA&hl=en)  
7:30 PM, Friday, November 10, 2023

[[2023-11-07|Back to the previous event!]] ☸ [[:#section2023|Up to the 2023 yearbox!]] ☸ [[:2023#November_events|Up to the 2023 event list!]] ☸ [[2023-11-11|On to the next event!]]

## Tentative Program

* PHILIP GLASS: String Quartet No. 2, _Company_
* PHILIP GLASS: Piano Etudes No. 2, 9, 16, and 20
* PHILIP GLASS: String Quartet No. 3, _Mishima_
* WOJCIECH KILAR: _Orawa_
* RACHEL GRIMES: _Book of Leaves_
* MARC MELLITS: (New arrangement TBD)
* ARVO PÄRT: _Summa_

## Set One

[7:34 PM] {lights down, pre-recorded house announcements, performers out}

### Dessner: Aheym

01. [7:36 PM] [Bryce Dessner](https://brycedessner.com/) \(b. 1976): _Aheym_ (2013), written for Kronos Quartet, transcribed for guitar ensemble  
[7:44 PM] {work ends}  
[7:45 PM] {program comments from Brian Bolger}

### Glass: String Quartet No. 2

[Philip Glass](http://philipglass.com/) \(b. 1937\): String Quartet No. 2, _Company_, written for Kronos Quartet, transcribed for guitar ensemble

01. [7:46 PM] Mvt. I ♩ = 96
01. [7:49 PM] Mvt. II ♩ = 160
01. [7:51 PM] Mvt. III ♩ = 96
01. [7:53 PM] Mvt. IV ♩ = 160  
[7:55 PM] {work ends}  
[7:56 PM] {more program comments from BB}

### Glass: Selected Piano Études

01. [7:56 PM] Piano Étude No. 2
02. [8:02 PM] Piano Étude No. 9
03. [8:06 PM] Piano Étude No. 16
04. [8:10 PM] Piano Étude No. 20  
[8:18 PM] {set ends}

## Set Two

[8:37 PM] {lights down, announcements, performers out}

### Grimes: Book of Leaves

[Rachel Grimes](https://www.rachelgrimespiano.com/) \(b. 1970): Selections from _Book of Leaves_ for solo piano (2009), transcribed for guitar ensemble by DGQ

01. [8:38 PM] Mvt. II _Every Morning_
02. [8:40 PM] Mvt. VI _My Dear Companion_
03. [8:43 PM] Mvt.XIII _Every Morning‚ Birds_  
[8:44 PM] {work ends}  
[8:45 PM] {program comments from Brian Bolger}

### Glass: String Quartet No. 3

[Philip Glass](http://philipglass.com/) \(b. 1937\): String Quartet No. 3, _Mishima_, written for Kronos Quartet, transcribed for guitar ensemble

01. [8:46 PM] Mvt. I _1957-Award Montage_
02. [8:51 PM] Mvt. II _November 25-Ichigaya_
03. [8:52 PM] Mvt. III _1934-Grandmother and Kimitake_
04. [8:56 PM] Mvt. IV _1962-Body Building_
05. [8:58 PM] Mvt. V _Blood Oath_
06. [9:03 PM] Mvt. VI _Mishima/Closing_  
[9:06 PM] {work ends}  
[9:07 PM] {brief program comments from BB}

### Pärt: Summa

01. [9:07 PM] Arvo Pärt (b. 1935): _Summa_ (1977) for chorus, transcribed for guitar ensemble by Dublin Guitar Quartet with input from Arvo Pärt  
[9:06 PM] {work ends}  
[9:07 PM] {brief program comments from BB}

### Mellits: Titan

[Marc Mellits](https://www.marcmellits.com/) \(b. 1966): unidentified selections from _Titan_ (2018) for string quartet and bass clarinet, transcribed for guitar ensemble.

01. [9:15 PM] I Saturn
02. [9:18 PM] TBD
03. [9:21 PM] VIII Phoebe & Janus
04. [9:24 PM] TBD  
[9:26 PM] {final applause}  
[9:27 PM] {done}

## Performers

[Dublin Guitar Quartet](https://www.dublinguitarquartet.com/)

* Brian Bolger: classical guitar;
* Pat Brunnock: 8-string classical guitar;
* Chien Buggle: 8-string classical guitar;
* Tomas O'Durcain: classical guitar.

## Notes

A fine night for modern classical guitar. Nary a whiff of anything remotely Hispanic. Or Irish, for that matter!

I was surprised at the performers lack of engagement with the audience: no greeting at the start of the show. Nothing to introduce the individual members or tell us why two were playing 8-string fan-fretted instruments. No thanks at the end. Brian Bolger did make cursory programmatic announcements, but they were frustratingly brief, and omitted important details (like which movements were selected for the Grimes and Mellits segments). Must be the famous Irish reserve.

Despite the criticism above, and the obvious one (that a guitar quartet is bound to sound kinda samey-samey after awhile), I really enjoyed this show. The performances were crisp and sharp, and the performers were great at mind-melding into a single unit -- the quartet as one -- plan with verve and élan without anyone standing out as overly showy despite the technical challenges of the compositions. And it helped that I'm a big fan of Philip Glass!

[Program Notes](https://sfperformances.org/img/perfnotes/2324/DublinGuitarQuartetNotes.pdf) or {{:2023:2023-11:20231110pn.pdf|program notes}}

Scott Cmiel posted a peculiar [review](https://www.sfcv.org/articles/review/dublin-guitar-quartet-debuts-san-francisco-new-music) of the show with SFCV: in my view, he rephrased the program summaries without adding much of anything about what actually happened tonight. Most strange to me is that he repeated the program bit about the group using 11-string guitars when none where in evidence tonight as best as I could tell. Like I said, strange!

Soon after this show, Joshua Barone posted an interesting [article](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/16/arts/music/philip-glass-piano-etudes.html) in the NY Times about Philip Glass' Études: no mention of the Dublin Guitar Quartet there, but it seemed like a good link to share, so here it is!

{{tag>music Dublin_Guitar_Quartet ordered Herbst_Theatre Brian_Bolger Pat_Brunnock Chien_Buggle Tomas_O'Durcain}}

[[2023-11-07|Back to the previous event!]] ☸ [[:#section2023|Up to the 2023 yearbox!]] ☸ [[:2023#November_events|Up to the 2023 event list!]] ☸ [[2023-11-11|On to the next event!]]