Silesian String Quartet / Masterpieces with a Polish Counterpoint: Witold Lutosławski - NOSPR

The Silesian Quartet - 44 years of experience, over 150 premieres of chamber works, thousands of performances in the world's most renowned concert halls, more than 60 album recordings, over 20 nominations, 9 "Fryderyk" awards, and the most prestigious of all - the Gramophone Classical Music Award, also known as "the musical Oscar". 

They specialize in discovering, promoting, and recording Polish music - renowned for premiering works under the composers' guidance. Departing from the traditional hierarchical model of music-making, the ensemble emphasizes exchanges with musicians from other chamber groups. Part of this exchange includes regular workshops with musicians, chamber players, and composers. 

In this season, they will combine masterpieces of chamber music with quartets by Polish composers - Witold Lutosławski, Zbigniew Bargielski, Krzysztof Meyer, Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, Joanna Wnuk-Nazarowa, and Andrzej Panufnik. All of this is on the occasion of milestone birthday anniversaries. 

The concert is dedicated to Witold Lutosławski, who would have turned 110 this year. Hence, the program includes his String Quartet. The composer left behind only one work of this genre. The musicians of the Silesian Quartet once asked the master, "Will you write another quartet, maestro?" Lutosławski replied, "Well, I probably should!" Unfortunately, he didn't have the chance to do so. Nevertheless, the piece has entered the history of music as an exceptional work that challenges the traditional understanding of the string quartet form. Why? 

The string quartet, as a group, must form a cohesive whole, one organism. The main idea is to play together, breathe together, share a common sense of pulse. Lutosławski broke this rule: each instrument plays a separate part. Furthermore, the composer introduced the technique of aleatoricism, and the score practically did not exist. It was only Lutosławski's wife, Danuta, who devised a way to notate the composition on paper - although it is not read vertically, like other scores. It contains many instructions such as: "Let the violist know when you finish playing." Today, these techniques are no longer shocking, but in 1964, the piece evoked immense emotions. The program also includes Witold Maliszewski, Witold Lutosławski's teacher, a student of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov himself. He composed a String Quintet with two cellos. The Silesian Quartet will be joined by the excellent Swedish cellist, Mats Lidström, a member of the jury of the first edition of the International Music Competition named after Karol Szymanowski. 

The evening will commence with the last String Quartet by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. This outstanding work is, in many ways, a romantic masterpiece, allowing both listeners and performers to fully experience the spirit of Romanticism. The slow movement is an emotionally gripping Requiem for Fanny, the beloved and prematurely deceased sister of Felix. Just a few months after her passing, Felix himself passes away, longing for her. 

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Check the upcoming concerts in this series.

Concert duration: approximately 60 minutes