I love classical string quartets. I think the pursuit of delicate balance and restraint fits well with Lerici’s values. The characteristic of this piece is its simplicity. Just four instruments, two violins, one viola, and one cello, move as if they were one, creating an ensemble.
It may seem easy because it is only four people playing together, but surprisingly, string quartets are known to be the most difficult to play. It is a simple piece of music, so you cannot hide it. The essence of the performance is revealed at every moment. The movie 『 A late quartet (2012) 』 shows through drama how the balance of a quartet that has been maintained for decades is actually in a precarious position.
The quartet is not a simple collaboration, but an art that aims for a perfect chorus of one breath. Four musicians share their lives and deeply communicate with each other to create an ensemble. In his book The Joy of Music (Plaisir de la Musique, 1947) , the musicologist Roland Manuel expressed the sensitivity of the quartet as follows:
"Eight arms, four faces, one heart."
It is never easy for four different components to breathe together and become perfect one. However, we practice this delicate coordination every day. It is when we wear a suit. The suit, shirt, tie, and shoes are melodies and rhythms created in different places, but they play a single atmosphere on our body.
The suit and shirt are the first and second violins, respectively. If the suit leads the theme, the shirt creates the background and adds flavor. The tie, which brings the impression of the face to the center and connects it to the suit, is the viola, which holds the center. Finally, the shoes that support the whole thing are the cellos. Just like Beethoven's late quartet No. 14, it is a quartet that plays 'I' every day without rest.
The quartet players embrace each other on equal footing, because they know that they are most powerful when they exist as part of the whole. If one person in the quartet tries to be the main character, it will ruin the entire piece. Therefore, this breathing is endlessly refined. Finally, it is expressed in a pure form, with unnecessary stimulation and details omitted, creating a very powerful emotion.
The power of the suit also lies in this point. Just like the unexpected silence used by the eloquent speaker, restraint can greatly shake the human heart. Among men's clothing, the suit is the only one that has this form. When restrained in its simplest form, it can create a powerful impression that is difficult to express in words. That is why I tend to think of the suit as a breath of emotion or a kind of rhythm rather than a design.
Where does this power come from? In evolution, there is a concept of the end point of form. A form is continuously refined to reflect the times and culture, and when it reaches a state where there is nothing more to add or subtract, it finally stops evolving. This is the completion of a form. The reason why a classic does not develop any further is because it has reached the end point where it does not need to develop any further.
The origin of the modern suit is said to have started with George 'Beau' Brummell in the 18th century , but the form did not appear suddenly one day. It has been steadily developing since the 15th century, and has evolved for hundreds of years since Brummell, finally reaching the end of its form. Now, the suit has an extremely simple form that has nothing more to remove, and it reacts sensitively to even the smallest changes, just like a quartet.
So, it is okay not to decorate colors and shapes with any trend or inflated desires. I hope you savor it naturally and more deeply, like a piece of music played by a quartet. The aesthetics of a suit are already a classic that has entered the realm of pure perception. I recommend that you understand the essence, respect the nature of the material, and wear it neatly according to your own mood.
Written by Kim Dae-cheol
