Scottish folk music played alongside works by Haydn and Beethoven?
That would be surprising coming from any chamber-music group — unless it’s the Maxwell String Quartet. For the Maxwells, who are returning Thursday for their fourth performance at La Jolla’s Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, such juxtapositions are a key part of what they do.
In fact, each of the quartet’s two albums — released in 2021 and 2019 — feature classical works and arrangements of folk songs from Scotland. Thursday’s concert will do the same, highlighting Scottish work songs. In that spirit, the will likely wear tweed suits.
“Some of the music we’re playing is based on the Scottish wool mills near River Tweed,” said violist Elliott Perks. “Tweed’s very famous, but maybe not in Southern California, where you wouldn’t necessarily need that much tweed. But that’s what we wear nowadays.”
In a Union-Tribune interview in 2019, cellist Duncan Strachan described how the ensemble arranges these songs.
“We start with a melody from a Scottish traditional folk tune and re-conceptualize it for string quartet, so it becomes more polyphonic,” Strachan said. “We’re keen not to take away the natural flow and beauty of that music.”
Perks is the lone Englishman in the Glasgow-based quartet, which has now performed in 30 of the United States since their kilt-clad first tour in 2019.
Strachan and violinist George Smith studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where they formed the Maxwell String Quartet. Edinburgh-born violinist Colin Scobie met Perks at various music camps in their teens and they studied together at London’s Royal College of Music.
“When the previous violist left to do something else, Colin was in the quartet and suggested I do a trial period,” said Perks, who ed the Maxwells in 2014, shortly after finishing school.
“It was sort of a ‘try before you buy.’ “We were a little bit anxious because they were based up in Scotland and I’m in London. And I hadn’t met the other two before. So, it was a bit of a jump into the unknown, but it’s been worth it,” Perks said.
Viola as mediator
When not on tour, Perks teaches chamber music and theater at England’s Yehudi Menuhin School in his hometown of Surrey, where his parents live. He comes once a week to teach at his alma mater — and have dinner with his parents.
Perks studied both violin and viola as a child but at 16 he gave up the violin.
“Actually, my original plan was to play both, but every time I swung my viola up, I’d hit myself in the chin,” he said with a laugh. “Those extra few centimeters make quite a big difference.”
The viola is a perfect fit for him, Perks believes, because the two things he enjoys most are people and music. He considers the role of a chamber-music violist as a social one.
“The viola in a quartet setting has two jobs,” Perks explained. “Firstly, to bridge the sound between the deeper, darker tones of the cello and the higher frequencies of the violins. So, you have to be a kind of mediator in this sound world.
“But also, a violist’s job is to connect people, if you feel like their energy is dropping in a concert. You need to check in with your colleagues regularly. You give your best effort to encourage your other and make them shine. People shouldn’t come out of a concert saying: ‘Oh, gosh, that violist was just marvelous.’”
Perks’ activities “between quartet patches” demonstrates his dual love of people and music. He gets great satisfaction from working with the students he teaches and from playing music with a large circle of friends, including his pianist brother, Oscar.
The Maxwell String Quartet is known for frequent collaborations, including with the Danish String Quartet, Montreal cinematographer Herman Kolgen, Finnish clarinetist Kari Kriikku and London’s Royal Ballet School.
Groundbreaking music
At Thursday’s concert in La Jolla, the Maxwells will play Haydn’s String Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 20, and Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 131. Both are considered revolutionary in how they raised the quality of the string quartet.
“Haydn’s Opus One has the viola and cello pretty much doubling,” Perks said. “By the time you get to Opus 20, there’s a conversational language being developed. It’s no longer a single soloist with a backing track but a real interplay among the different instruments. This was so exciting to audience and composers that it kicked off string-quartet playing as a thing.”
The Beethoven quartet was also groundbreaking, garnering praise from many other composers, including Schubert and Wagner. Its seven movements are played together as one piece, which tests the stamina of the musicians.
“Beethoven shows throughout that piece all sides of human variety,” Perks noted. “It’s not the angry, aggressive Beethoven that hits the press most of the time. It’s the rigor of all his most sensitive, caring, jovial and angry sides displayed equally.”
Perks said the Maxwells are happy to again be performing in La Jolla Athenaeum’s Chamber Concerts Series. It’s more than the beauty of the location that attracts them.
“They really looked after us and showed us a good time while we were in La Jolla,” he said. “There’s a community around that concert series that makes quite a special environment, especially for the artists.”
Maxwell String Quartet
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday
Where: Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla
Tickets: $15-$55
Online: ljathenaeum.org
Wood is a freelance writer.
