About Arcturus
An essay by Arcturus member and french horn player Hazel Dean Davis (January 2004)
On December 28th, while most households were winding down after the holiday frenzy, the Darling house in Carlisle, MA was bubbling with activity and anticipation: last minute phone calls were made, flight arrival times checked, shopping expeditions led, and all available music stands set up. Meanwhile, all across the country young musicians were on their way via bus, plane, or car to Carlisle. Slowly people began arriving and by mid-afternoon the house was overflowing with instrument cases, laughter, and the sounds of tuning and warm-up scales. Another Arcturus Chamber Festival had begun.
Arcturus was started by Sarah Darling in the fall of 2000 as a way to bring together the musician friends she had met at Harvard, Juilliard, and summer festivals. Sarah is a violist from Carlisle and hopes to make a career as a chamber musician. She seems to attract new friends like a magnet; her unfailing energy and kindness has brought her close to nearly everyone she has played with. Arcturus is Sarah's way of assembling together this web of friends. Relying on the generosity of her family, she decided to invite a group of musician friends to stay in her home for a week. Here they would play chamber music all day, eat and sleep in the same house, and perform concerts in Carlisle, Pepperell, and on the Harvard campus. The first Arcturus was a success and has since become a much-anticipated event for the musicians and audiences.
The repertoire for each Arcturus concert depends entirely on who is playing in the session and what they want to work on. For this string of concerts, the program included the Reicha Horn Quintet, op 106; Bartok String Quartet No. 2, op 17; and Brahms Sextet in G Major, op 36. Since the Arcturus pool of musicians includes three horn players — Andrew Karr, Kim Hammill, and myself — it is not uncommon to find a horn piece on the program. So far Arcturus has played the Mozart Divertimento in D, Mozart Horn Quintet, Beethoven Sextet for two horns and strings, and the Reicha Horn Quintet.
This winter's performances mark my second time playing with Arcturus (I played the Beethoven Sextet with Kim in 2002), and like the first time rank among the most memorable and inspiring experiences of my musical life. It is refreshing to play with musicians with such energy, intensity, and joy, and to share in their untiring passion for chamber music.
The week of preparation is all-consuming. Rehearsals for the string players often run nine or more hours a day and even we horn players find ourselves happily spending a good five hours in rehearsal each day, but our efforts are not boring for a minute. After all, taking a completely unknown piece and transforming it into a personal, performable masterwork (complete with all the E-horn cross fingerings) in just five days leaves no time for boredom. We spend the entire day playing or talking about the music...with, of course, the obligatory tangents into the "Lord of the Rings" soundtrack, Vivaldi jokes, and stories of past Arcturus sessions.
This Arcturus, like all the others, proved to be a memorable week of music, laughter, delicious food, and great memories. As we all grow older, start to win jobs (knock on wood) and settle down, it may prove harder to gather, but I have no doubt that Arcturus will continue in some form or another for years to come. It has become a favorite event for the communities of Carlisle and Pepperell as well as for the musicians. It is a rare opportunity for us to create great music on our own terms, with people we love. And there is nothing more satisfying!