Dominance of Instruments

Throughout all three performances at Carnegie Hall, the four instruments were played seamlessly together. The cello, viola, and two violins worked together in harmony. However, the violins were always slightly more dominant.

During the first performance, both violins were in charge, but Jeff was the strongest player. It was a very playful, fun performance, especially at the beginning. The second performance was more synchronized, especially in the beginning. The violins were still in charge, but the instruments were divided into pairs – violin-cello and violin-viola counterparts – that each had their time to shine. In this piece, the viola was mostly in the background. The third performance gave even more time for each set of pairs to perform together. Everyone was mostly together in their notes. The cello even got a solo, but the viola remained in the background.

All three performances followed a similar pattern of a call and answer. One or both of the violins would start with a note or several notes, and then the cello and viola would follow. The cello also remained a constant in setting the beat for each piece, acting similar to a drum in a band.

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