>> From the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. ^M00:00:04 ^M00:00:22 >> Nicholas Brown: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Library of Congress. Many of you are regulars. Thanks for being here. And some new folks as well. My name is Nick Brown. I'm a music specialist and concert producer here. Very pleased to welcome you on behalf of the library and also the Freer Sackler Galleries, who are co-presenting this concert with us tonight of musicians from Marlboro. And I'd love to go down the line and have everyone introduce themselves and say what your instrument is your name and where you're from. >> Peter Stumpf: My name is Peter Stumpf, and I play the cello and I'm from Bloomington, Indiana. >> Alexi Kenney: My name is Alexi Kenney. I play the violin, originally from Palo Alto, California. >> My name is Robin Scott, and I also play the violin from Indianapolis, Indiana originally. >> My name is Zoltan Fejervan. I am from Hungary. That's where I live right now. >> Nicholas Brown: Oh, I knew I couldn't say his name properly, so I figured I would just like, [laughs] leave it out there. Wonderful. So thank you all for being here. You are four of the five musicians for the evening. And Shuangshuang will be onstage later for you to enjoy her playing. Can you tell us a bit about how you came together as a chamber ensemble within the context of Marlboro? Did you work together before that? Or did some of you work together? >> Peter Stumpf: Well, actually with the Marlboro tours often the way they are structured is they're based around a group that performed at the Marlboro Music Festival in the summer. So, in this case the Brahms, a major piano quartet that we're playing this evening was a piece that we've worked on as a group already at Marlboro for a certain number of weeks and then performed there. And that was sort of the foundation of the tour group. We added a violinist to fill out the program for the first half with the string quartets that we're doing, and that's Alexi Kenney joined us for that. So originally it was the Brahms, [inaudible] Zoltan and Robin and Shuangshuang and myself. So that's how it came together. >> Nicholas Brown: Great. And how far into the tour are you all now? >> Robin Scott: Halfway today, right? Yeah. Third of five. [laughs] >> Nicholas Brown: How's it gone so far. >> Robin Scott: Fantastically. >> Nicholas Brown: Yeah. Great. [laughs] >> Robin Scott: Couldn't be better. >> Nicholas Brown: Wonderful. [laughs] And where is next after D.C? >> Zoltan Fejervan: We'll going to do Philadelphia tomorrow. We're playing there. And so far all the places we've played were so different. So we'll look forward for the stage version for our concerts today. I have to say I really love this hall actually. It has a certain warm atmosphere and also the sound is very warm, so I think it's more difficult to play not nice. ^M00:03:30 [ Laughs ] ^M00:03:33 >> Nicholas Brown: Cool. So can you tell us a bit about the thinking behind the repertoire selection for this program? So we have the Haydn and the Brahms and the vaporing [sp]. >> Peter Stumpf: Well, the Bones piano quartet is, you know, one of his greatest chamber music works. I think it's very and it's a very sophisticated piece and it's a very, it's a big piece. It's very, substantial. And one of his longer works actually. So the idea is to keep the beginning of the program, the first half of the program on the shorter side and also somewhat on the lighter side. And so for that reason the Haydn was selected, the Haydn String Quartet, which I think is a very nice balance for the bonds. And then the vaporing that we're doing, the idea with that was in part that it's brevity. It's not as short as most vaporing pieces are, but it is, you know, a very compact work. And also it's very rarely played and very few people know it. So that was sort of -- those two elements were the two things that were the basic idea behind doing the vaporing. I think in addition to that though because the Brahms is such a great piece it's important to make sure that the pieces that precede it are in that realm and level of composition, which I think both of these without question are, you know, said that was also one of the reasons for choosing the Haydn and the vaporing. >> Nicholas Brown: Great. Have any of you worked together in different settings than the Marlboro tours or the festival? >> Robin Scott: Yes. I've worked with Alexi and with Peter. Actually in a previous Marlboro tour Peter and I came to a [inaudible] gallery a few years ago. And so we played together for six years, [laughs] on and off. >> Alexi Kenney: Yes. >> Robin Scott: And Alexi and I have played together some and some chamber context as well. >> Nicholas Brown: Cool. And so you all have very interesting backgrounds. Some of you have done very well in competitions. Some of you are doing a lot of orchestra work or did. When you have these kind of different courses in your careers, how do you think you approach your creative process together differently or similarly to other chamber experiences that you have? So like do you have in mind, oh, this happened when we were doing this Beethoven thing with this conductor and that was silly. So let's not do that here kind of deal. ^M00:06:45 [ Laughs ] ^M00:06:47 >> Alexi Kenney: I mean I guess we all come at it from different places, but eventually at the end of the day for me collaboration is king in music, so all experiences stem from chamber music in my opinion. And so whether I'm playing a solo Concerto with orchestra or in an orchestra or in a string quartet. Obviously the way you approach it is slightly different, but I think if you come at it with an open mind and in a collaborative spirit, then I don't know, these things are all kind of similar. We don't have any issues working together for instance,. [laughs] >> Nicholas Brown: Great, cool. What kind of -- sorry, I'm going to get silly with questions for a bit, but what might be some issues where you have very strong feelings about that say the group is on one side and one of you is on a different position. Would that be something having to do with tempo, performance practice issues, articulation even. Or do you kind of just it's like a relationship. You kind of give and take and find a balance and somehow have a nice combo platter at the end. >> Robin Scott: What you said at the end is about right. I think oftentimes also what people perceive at the time to be contradicting ideas, oftentimes aren't. There are many times in music I think when you can try to actually combine two things that almost seem to be opposites. But when you put them together actually make something that's far stronger than just one of those things by itself. I mean I often think that about when you have people who think about a piece very differently, they're looking -- they're coming from a different direction. They're looking for a little bit different things perhaps in it, but when you get both of those qualities actually, you get a better product than maybe what you thought, how you thought you loved it in the first place when you take other people's ideas into account. And then you also are forced to find out what you really like about the piece. Was it really the speed at which it goes by that you like it. Well, no, that's probably not what it is. It's other deeper things and then you find you can actually do your own ideas and add to them other people's suggestions and the product oftentimes is much better than it was initially. >> Nicholas Brown: Great. So since we're in a library, we're going to go a little nerdy and you all just got to see some cool manuscripts in the lobby of the auditorium over here. And for those of you who haven't seen them yet, there are a variety of Vayburn manuscripts out, which are from the library's Moulden Hour archives, which is a very large archival collection split amongst institutions in North America and in Europe. And we have all kinds of really cool stuff in there, and just go to lsu.gov and put in Moulden Hour in a very German way and you will find it in full collection guide. But so these manuscripts are there and you all kind of mentioning the fact that it's a unique thing to be able to see the manuscripts when you're going to perform next door. ^M00:10:01 And then on top of that Vaburn manuscripts don't exactly exist everywhere. Like maybe some Mahler manuscripts would or Beethoven manuscripts. So what was that little experience like for you, because I got to watch it and it was fun, and we enjoy provoking that for sure. >> Peter Stumpf: Well, I mean it's the manuscript issue is kind of, I mean I was shocked to see that, because, you know, the issue with manuscripts is that some of them are hidden away in private collections, in somebody's personal library. So we don't have access to a lot of manuscripts and in some in some cases we don't even know where they are or if they even exist for that reason. There's no real organizational sort of entity that controls that. So to see that one I was really surprised, because it's not that well-known of a piece anyway, but we were really impressed by how very neatly written it was. He was apparently very meticulous about his copying and writing. It's not one of these, you know -- >> >> Nicholas Brown: Yeah. [Inaudible] >> Peter Stumpf: -- messy, floppy looking manuscripts. It was very, very fine. And it was edited. I mean there was some editing in there. >> Alexi Kenney: It's also interesting to me just knowing this piece now and realizing how passionate and how dark and depressing parts of it are, [laughs] the tempo marking or tempo marking at the beginning is just to [inaudible] which is dark and heavy. And to contrast that with the way that he seemed to have conceived or written it down very daintily is kind of funny [laughs] contrast for me. >> Robin Scott: It's also just interesting to see the actual handwriting of the composer that you play. I think that adds to the shock value of [laughs] it. Today I and Zoltan went over to the gallery and I was trying to find individual brushstrokes of Rembrandt, and then to see that out there, it's all pretty remarkable. There aren't too many places where you can go and see this sort of stuff. >> Nicholas Brown: Great. Thank you for sharing those reflections. Where is some of the other venues where you've experienced something similar, like have any of your performed at the Morgan Library or for other places like that? Or is this it? >> Robin Scott: I have played there, but they didn't show me manuscripts [inaudible] [laughs] I do know they have some great, very great manuscripts there. >> Nicholas Brown: Cool. So before we open up to Q&A one more question for me. And that is I'd love to hear you guys discuss your experience with summer festivals, and then compare sort of your experience with Marlboro versus those other festival experiences. I've had the opportunity to some summer festivals and it's such a unique, creative, vibrant space where people kind of let go of a lot of their inhibitions and there's a much more social component in different ways where you're going to meet new people, rather than the folks you're working with all the time. What about Marlboro offers an even more unique festival atmosphere for you? >> Peter Stumpf: Well, Marlboro is actually completely unique as a festival. In summer festivals there is a range of different sort of concepts. Some are educational, which involve, you know, will have faculty and students and their lessons and student performances, faculty performances. Some festivals are just professional where you go when you perform chamber music and oftentimes in those cases you're playing with people you may or may not know very well, may have played with before but maybe not. And you're playing in a short period of time rehearsing and rather quickly putting together a repertoire and presenting it in a concert. So those are the two kind of ends of the spectrum. Marlboro is kind of in a different category, because the concept of it is it's seven weeks long. The first two weeks there are no performances, so it's just rehearsal. Then the concerts begin from the from the third week to the end of the festival, so they cover a span of five weeks. And the program is only determined ten days in advance of the concerts. And the reason for that is that the groups that are rehearsing decide amongst themselves. You have complete control over whether or not you perform something. You can spend the whole summer at Marlboro and not perform at all. You could just rehearse. There's no requirement to perform anything. So you only perform if you feel inspired as a group to do so. And of course most groups are aiming towards that possibility, but, you know, it's not a requirement. So we have an option to not perform, which means that it's only when it really feels right, you know, that the group chooses to offer it for performance. Now having even if it's offered for performance, it isn't necessarily selected, because then they have to choose the program that makes the most sense, as some pieces even be offered and not chosen and those aren't performed. And you really have much more rehearsal time than you would ever have at most festivals. So it's completely different in that sense, so the performances have a different kind of aura about them. They're not a group that's rehearsed very quickly and put something together. They're not formed to a music a group that's played together for years, but they are a group that's rehearsed a lot and spent a lot of time together on preparing the piece and really not been under any pressure to hurry to perform so they can really delve into it in great depth. And then on top of all of that, it's also a program that involves younger players and older players. So there's a certain number of older players who are kind of in a somewhat of a mentor role that are in each one of the groups. There's one person like that in each group, and the others are very talented and young players, some very best from around the world. And what the idea is to really have it be encourage them to rehearse as peers and to work as like just a group of musicians working together. And the role of the mentor varies from one group to the next, so depending on the group itself. If the group needs a lot of help with something then they're there. If they don't, they don't. But then the person in that role also plays somewhat of a role in deciding about whether the group is offered for performance. But the group decides, they kind of choose themselves to do that. So that's just completely different. And this was the, you know, kind of the brainchild of Rudolph Serkin, who had this idea and it really is -- there are other festivals that have tried to sort of do similar things, but none of them do exactly like this. This is totally unique. >> Nicholas Brown: Great. Does anyone else have some ideas or thoughts? >> Zoltan Fejervan: And I think [inaudible] everything was important about Marlboro. Maybe he didn't mention the sona and the pound. [laughs] So Marlboro provides lots of things besides that also, which makes it special and makes somehow the participants feel that they really belong to that place. And like socially get together like you literally every day, every night that we spend together. So we are far away from big city, away from like the every days duties, and it really somehow brings this almost ecstatic feeling of the everyday music making. >> Nicholas Brown: Great. I think we'll open it up to questions from the audience. So if you have a question just throw your hand up in the air and my colleague Jay will come around with a microphone. ^F00:19:32 ^M00:19:39 >> On the vaporing how long did it take to put it together? How long did you practice on it? And had any of you played it before? >> Robin Scott: Peter had played it before I believe, but the rest of us I think it was the first time. We had a week. Well five days. About five days. ^M00:20:00 [ Inaudible ] ^M00:20:01 >> Robin Scott: Six days? >> Peter Stumpf: Six days. >> Robin Scott: Six days where we rehearsed the Vaporing and the Haydn every day. And it came together actually pretty well I think. We had all done some preparation on our own, so that we weren't sight reading when we came together. >> Zoltan Fejervan: Right. [laughs] >> Robin Scott: So that makes a big difference. You haven't some clue of what to do, but it came together very well. It's not quite as complicated as some of the more, the later more -- >> Peter Stumpf: Yeah. >> Robin Scott: -- 12 tone compositions, but it has a lot of chromaticism in it, which takes some figuring out for sure. You really have to figure out what you need to hear. >> When was it composed? >> Robin Scott: In 1905. >> '05, okay. >> Alexi Kenney: I actually had never even heard of this piece before. >> Robin Scott: Yeah, so same here. >> Yeah. I'm sure [inaudible] >> Robin Scott: It's actually it's written the same year as another string quartet that he wrote called Long Summersaults. >> Yeah. That one I know. >> Robin Scott: A slow piece. And that's very, very romantic. >> Yeah. >> Robin Scott: And this is very different from that, very traumatic, largely, and yet written the same year. It's interesting I think to me. ^F00:21:15 ^M00:21:21 >> Nicholas Brown: I'm just going to keep asking questions, and if you guys don't have ideas. There you go. >> Yeah. And I don't know exactly what I'm asking, but back in the '60s I used to get and go up to the Marlboro with my parents for all time. And felt it was just unbelievably amazing, because it was like the musicians were able to go up on the mountain and try to find out what the hell was going on. And then they'd work on it, apparently much more than your average group of guys and then they'd come back down and report out. And it was incredible. And I was wondering it sounds like it pretty much the same, and if you guys have some feeling for that I'd be interested in knowing. >> Robin Scott: Yeah, there is definitely that element. I think one of the things I love to do most there is to have at least one group or one piece that is a really big masterwork, like a big Beethoven quartet or partite quartet, something that takes a lot of time that justifies spending five, six, seven, even weeks on it with a group of musicians that you really love. And then, you know that you've got all this time and that you feel that you really have a good chance to do it justice. I played a professional string quartet outside of Marlboro and sometimes we have to put things together very quickly. Even though we play all the time together we have to learn something very quickly for an upcoming performance and to have the flexibility, the space of an entire summer is a great luxury, frankly. And you have the time to form a sound as a group that you don't really when you just throw something together at a usual, at a normal festival or at some serious. Even if the players are very good. You really get to hash out and discuss and try all sorts of ways of doing things and you can settle, you can find the flexibility that oftentimes isn't as easily accessible. >> Nicholas Brown: Anyone else. Oh, just once for the microphone. ^F00:23:51 ^M00:23:57 >> I'm sorry I was a little late, but just maybe you covered this. But how are you chosen? How do you get there? Do you apply? Do you have try outs? Do you pay? What is the situation? ^M00:24:07 [ Laughs ] ^M00:24:10 >> Peter Stumpf: So the way it works is there are auditions for the festival, and that's primarily the way that the participants are selected. And they're required to perform some solo works, but also to prepare some chamber music parts. And they're given actually a limited amount of time to prepare the parts. So it may be a couple of weeks in advance they get the repertoire. I don't know, something like that I think, and then and then they have to -- and often it's difficult parts [laughs] that they have to learn. And then they perform those as well in the audition. There are also circumstances where people are invited. In some cases when they're younger or more often when they're older to sort of participate as more of a mentor role or if they're a younger person maybe just someone has already achieved, you know, a certain success as a performer and they are just invited. >> And are they funded? >> Peter Stumpf: It is funded. There is a tuition, but nobody pays it. ^M00:25:38 [ Laughs ] ^M00:25:39 There is, for whatever reason there is, yes. There is actual tuition, but it is always -- it's a full scholarship for everybody that's involved. >> What are the different [inaudible] >> Peter Stumpf: Well, [laughs] a little bit of it comes from the NEA. >> Robin Scott: Currently. >> Peter Stumpf: And the rest of it is from donations from, you know, generous supporters and corporations and things like that. ^M00:26:13 [ Inaudible ] ^M00:26:14 >> Peter Stumpf: Most arts organizations these days. Also the Marlboro College provides the -- well we pay the Marlboro College event. That also has to be paid for, but that's where people are housed and then there's food and everything provided through that. >> Nicholas Brown: Anyone else? ^F00:26:25 ^M00:26:46 >> [Inaudible] Another kind of a question. I sort of got the impression when I was in Marlboro and you would talk to people that because you guys aren't provided a lot of independence and time to figure things out that there were people who would say, well there was a little bit of reluctance to employ some people who've been to Marlboro because they didn't see -- maybe the word isn't docile enough, but [laughs] they would be in an organization and they wouldn't exactly be doing what they were told to do, in a very good sense. I don't mean having a grand time, but I wondered whether you had run into that at all in your professional career. ^M00:27:44 [ Laughs ] ^M00:27:46 >> Robin Scott: On the record too. [laughs] No, I don't think -- so is the premise that people who have been to Marlboro are difficult to work with or hard to employ or -- >> My thought was that, yeah, there were -- let's see [inaudible] [laughs] >> Nicholas Brown: It's like [inaudible] making music. Yeah. >> Robin Scott: There are many musicians who that could be said of. [laughs] >> Well I think that's a very positive thing, but -- >> Peter Stumpf: It's an interesting point. You know, it's awful -- I think that there could be some validity to what you're saying, but I think it's awfully hard to define. You know, because it's sort of a -- it's a conceptual thing, you know. But, yeah, I think that there's a little bit of validity there to that idea. I think that it can be seen as a kind of elitist kind of way of going about things, you know, that's very idealistic, you know. But, on the other hand, you know, so many fine musicians have gone through there and I don't think any of them are having a lot of trouble with their employment fortunately. So I think it's generally had a real positive impact overall on. I think it has quite an important influence in the musical community in general. >> Nicholas Brown: Anyone else? ^M00:29:31 ^M00:29:38 Last call or I'm going to do another one. OK. So for those of us who have not yet been to the festival, which is probably most of us in the room and myself included and I'm very eager to get there. Would you recommend going for a full weekend and catching all the performances to get a sense of everyone that's there or would you recommend, you know, go one day, one weekend, one day, another weekend. Go at the beginning of the summer, go at the end of the session? ^M00:30:01 >> Alexi Kenney: You never know. >> Nicholas Brown: Okay. [laughs] And where are the places to stay and hang out and what museums are around, that kind of thing. >> Peter Stumpf: Well, the closest town is Brattleboro, Vermont which is, you know, an interesting, you know, Vermont city. And, you know, it's a funky place, but very, you know, there's actually great restaurants there and art galleries and all kinds. It's artistic oriented community. Marlboro itself has a post office and an inn. There is an actual inn right there in the center, and a church, so there's inn, church, post office. And -- >> College. >> Peter Stumpf: And then the college, but that's not in the center of the town. The college you have to drive to the college from there. >> Alexi Kenney: It's really in the middle of the woods. >> Peter Stumpf: It's in the middle of the woods up in the mountains. So it's, yeah, it's beautiful, quiet country there. Bears and mooses. [laughs] But, yeah. So actually there, there is only this one small inn and then there are a couple other inns nearby. And there are people, a lot of people that come up just to be in Vermont and to go to the concerts. And some stay for the whole summer to do that. And some people just come up for a weekend. It's a great weekend trip. You know, because then you can -- the Sunday concerts in the afternoon, so you can travel somewhere in that evening if you need to. And the Saturday concerts at night. So it's really set up for people to come up for the weekend, and I think a lot of people from New York do that, you know, because they can just go up for a weekend and hear a couple of concerts. So, you know, whenever you have the time and interest for I think really. >> Nicholas Brown: Anyone else any suggestions, places to steer clear of. [laughs] Okay. So last question I'll throw out and then we'll let you guys have a little dinner break is perhaps a controversial question, but you don't have to get political or anything. How do you interpret your roles in society as artists in terms of what do you think your role is in inspiring people to think critically about their lives, about music or about the way music can affect positive change or anything in that world? If you have any thoughts that don't cause you to reveal anything too sensitive, feel free to jump in there. I think the reason for my question is I think we're in Washington, right. So Washington is an epicenter of a lot of different things going on in society. For better and for worse, and the Library of Congress definitely values the role of the arts and culture in humanities. And we really want to know where you all are at and how we can complement that work to really make sure that we're serving the population. I guess. Like education, work. Do you do performances for specific causes? Do you steer clear of it all and just focus on the music and that's the way you deal with it. >> Peter Stumpf: I think each one of us does something different, you know. I mean we all have different ways that can do that. I mean at this point in my life I'm a professor at the University. So I mean what I'm doing is, you know, mentoring and helping young aspiring musicians to participate in music, and to get involved, and to see it go forward. And I think, you know, I think probably most people that are involved in the arts in general it comes from a certain kind of it's about inspiration that comes from whatever the art that that particular person is drawn in by, whether it be visual or musical or writing, whatever. And so I think ultimately it's in particular for what we do, we're bringing something to life that otherwise would not, you know, there's no way to know what you -- there are a few people that can look at a score and know exactly what it sounds like and experience it without ever having heard it. [laughs] You actually can. Some people can. But generally it has to be played. And there's such a huge range of different areas of music that people get involved in. You know, it's just it's endless and limitless. But I think it's about the inspiration and the connection between what it affirms for us in our experiences in life that we don't speak about. Things we don't say. Things we don't talk about, but the things that we know to be true, but often only internally. So we don't realize necessarily this is something that we all share. You know, and when each piece of music has within it some -- well I'll say a great range of expressive qualities that go past our intellectual experience and understanding and touch the inner kind of core of each person in different ways. But it affirms for them the existence of this reality that they have. And there's something tremendously comforting about that. And also gives you a sense of community, you know, and a sense that you're not alone with that feeling or that experience in your life. >> Nicholas Brown: Thank you. That's very insightful. I appreciate it. Anyone else have some thoughts? You can say no. That's okay. >> Alexi Kenney: I was going to say I mean just in terms of my experience, I do a lot of traveling to perform with orchestras or recitals around the country. And a lot of the time kind of in the middle of the country where I wouldn't necessarily go on vacation or travel too, particularly. And I'm often asked to do some sort of educational outreach when I travel. And this is something that I've grown to really love. Sometimes even more than playing the concert itself. Although, of course, I love performing and all of that, but there's something incredibly important obviously about playing for kids. And I think a lot of that -- when I play for a school, for instance,, I find myself being as passionate or even feel like being more passionate is so important, because, you know, to go along with inspiration and all of this, of course, I agree that yes there's this incredible quality about music that is unspeakable.. You can't put it into words. And that beauty for me keeps me going as a musician day to day. But for a group of kids who are listening to music maybe for the first time listening to a violin player, I think what touches somebody is energy and raw kind of that sort of inspiration. Somebody is seeing somebody very, very passionate about something they love to do. And I feel that's a great duty for my life to bring to people, especially to kids but also in every performance, you know, just giving it 120 percent because why do it otherwise. >> Robin Scott: Yeah. You have you have the chance to possibly really reach someone who may never heard a violin or any classical music, for instance,, and then you really I think it helps you find what you really want to say in a way, because they don't care about all the other details that other professionals who might listen to you, might care about. And they also can tell -- I think they can see right through fakery [laughs] or disingenuous sorts of things. ^M00:40:09 And so you have to be really honest and do your very best to really command their attention. That's difficult. [laughs] But it's totally worth it. >> Nicholas Brown: Great. Zoltan, did you want to add anything? >> Zoltan Fejervan: I can only agree with everybody. It just comes to my mind what Gabriel Garcia Marquez wrote about him being a writer. And I think he writes that you shouldn't be a writer if you realize that you can't live without writing. So it's something similar with the musician I think. So we have to realize if you can't live without making music, that's like so if we can live without making music then let's stop making music. And we certainly have to have a very strong message in our playing. That's what matters for sure. >> Nicholas Brown: Thank you for sharing those thoughts. I think it means a lot for all of us to hear about that from you, and in a very thoughtful way that probably puts into words what we experience in these concerts, because a lot of us are regulars and we share these moments together we might never speak about what happened. We don't necessarily know what the artist was intending, but I guarantee that in the concerts that really touch us, whether it's you guys or another ensemble, there are these moments that as you said are really affecting people in ways that they didn't really think could happen. Well, I guess one more question then we have to let them go. So if you just wait for the microphone. The gentleman in the corner over here. ^F00:42:03 ^M00:42:07 >> I was wondering when you were talking about the unsaid or portion of the content of music, do you communicate among your very small community about that aspect of the pieces you played together so that you were all communicating the same message? >> Robin Scott: Absolutely. >> Peter Stumpf: I'm sorry. What is the question specifically are we talking about? >> Do you communicate among yourselves about the unspoken content of the music you play, so that you are a more homogeneous community? >> Peter Stumpf: No, we don't speak about it. ^M00:42:48 [ Laughs ] ^M00:42:51 No, I mean actually we do. We do. But I think it's actually the same thing happening in the group itself. A lot of what we're doing we couldn't actually talk about. It's impossible. And that's where the mystery comes in. How are we doing? Like how does that even happen? That's a real mystery, you know, and I think we experience this kind of thing all the time. And sometimes we just don't even think about the fact that we're experiencing it, but we are, even just amongst ourselves. You know, because things change from one orchestra to the next, even from one minute to the next in a rehearsal. You couldn't always define all of those elements that are shifting and changing. And it's just kind of a real mystery. You know, how did that happen. I mean I had this experience even very literally in a number of instances in my life where something changed and there was an acknowledgement that that had happened, but nobody can really define or say what it was. You know, except that it was more of a connection between the musicians. >> Robin Scott: But also we do absolutely talk about what sort of quality what we want to convey, so that we -- I think the effort of trying to describe even these indescribable things is very good to go through because it makes you really think about how you want to sound and what you want to convey and then if you do that also as a group, then you can find that you have a better more cohesive vision for the piece. So, yes, there's some things that you can't always get 100 percent with words to describe music, but it's I think a good exercise actually to go as far as you can oftentimes. >> Nicholas Brown: Great. Well, thank you all for your questions and your attention this evening, and thank you so much to the gentleman up here for spending some time with all of us and speaking. And then we're very much looking forward to the non-speaking portion of the evening. [laughs] And we encourage you if you are interested in watching recent performances of musicians from Marlboro at the library to visit our website loc.gov. And in the search box type in "musicians from Marlboro," and you will find the videos from last year's two concerts that were here at the library. And then the concerts from this season will be put up in the next few months for you to check out as well. And do consider going up to Marlboro for a weekend. I think I'll probably be up there this summer, and happy to hang out with you guys if you're up there. Thank you so much. Thank you gents, and we'll see you in a little bit. ^M00:45:52 [ Applause ] ^M00:45:55 >> This has been a presentation of the Library of Congress. Visit us at loc.gov. ^E00:46:01