In today’s episode, Brigid speaks with the Finnish violinist and quartet player, Sini Simonen. Sini nominates to discuss a book: Virginia Woolf’s novel To the Lighthouse. In a moving and personal conversation recorded remotely during the height of the pandemic, we hear how Woolf’s writing has mediated Sini’s relationship with English; the part that ‘reading’ plays in Sini’s musical life; and the many ways in which Woolf’s investigation of interior and exterior lives speak to the ways in which we experience music, as performers and listeners. Sini is a beautiful and eloquent guest, and this episode is packed full of insights - for music, and for life.
Works mentioned in this episode:
Virginia Woolf To The Lighthouse
For more on Sini Simonen:
https://www.castalianstringquartet.com/biographies/
https://musicmasters.org.uk/sini-simonen/
Music:
Thomas Adès, The Four Quarters: I. Nightfall; III. Days. Performed by the Castalian String Quartet on their 2022 album Between Two Worlds: Lassus, Beethoven, Adès and Dowland
Beethoven, String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132, III. Molto adagio (Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesenen an die Gottheit). Performed by the Castalian String Quartet on their 2022 album Between Two Worlds: Lassus, Beethoven, Adès and Dowland
Photo Credit: Paul Marc Mitchell
Theme music:
Zortziko by Lee Dionne, from the Merz Trio's 2021 album INK
Design: Lara Juriansz
Produced and recorded by Brigid Coleridge. Technical assistance by Melissa May.
For more on the Merzbau Podcast:
Website: www.merztrio/merzbaupodcast
Instagram: @merzbaupod
For more on the Merz Trio:
Website: www.merztrio.com
Instagram: @merztrio
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MerzTrio/