Cypress String Quartet (with Barry Shiffman, viola & Zuill Bailery, cello) – Brahms String Sextets (Avie)

It's one of the film industry's most legendary campuses. It's home to the legendary Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises. Skywalker Ranch is just 40 minutes north of San Francisco, and it's not open to the public. Last spring, the Cypress String Quartet capped off their 20-year career by inviting a few friends and fans to join them at this legendary studio for the making of their live, farewell recording of Johannes Brahms String Sextets.

Cellist Jennifer Kloetzel says it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. "But also I think people were really caught up in the music," she says. "I mean, these two sextets are so rich and warm and the music sort of sweeps you away, and I think the days passed very quickly with the two audiences were like, 'Wait — that's it? We're done? Can we come back again?'"

It was an intimate experience on many levels. "So you already have a quartet that's been together for 20 years, we have a lot of time spent together," Jennifer explains. "We open it up to play with our friends Barry Schiffman and Zuill Bailey, so we're playing with friends and then we decided it'd be fun to play for friends. We had performed these pieces together with Barry and Zuill many times before we went into the studio, and we thought we wanted to capture the same feeling we had when we were in a concert hall."

The Cypress String Quartet engaging you and a few of their fans and friends in an intimate, final performance, of Brahms String Sextets. Hear more of the music and of Julie Amacher's interview with Jennifer Kloetzel by using the audio player above.

Resources

Cypress String Quartet - official site

Cypress String Quartet - Brahms Sextets (Amazon)