This concert is supported in part by The Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation.
More than any composer since Beethoven, Shostakovich employed the string quartet as a vehicle for his deepest ruminations on the human condition. The last of his 15 quartets, written in 1974, is almost unremittingly dark and elegiac in character. Its six interconnected movements convey a mixture of fatalistic resignation and grim, almost morbid intensity, possibly reflecting the ailing composer’s awareness of his own mortality. (He died the following year.) At the same time, the Op. 144 Quartet bears Shostakovich’s stylistic fingerprints in its extremes of mood and register; its spare, linear textures; and an insistent, often savage rhythmic impulse.
Written in 1828, the String Quintet in C Major is Schubert’s last, and arguably greatest, piece of extended chamber music. Amazingly, it didn’t receive its first public performance until 1850. (Many of Schubert’s other works, including most of his string quartets and symphonies, were similarly neglected for decades after his death.) A listener commenting on the premiere years later recalled, “Never has this work presented itself to my ear with such ravishing beauty of sound and such captivating verve as when it was played by these Viennese gentlemen.” It may have been the success of that performance that led to the belated publication of the String Quintet in 1853; since then, its greatness has never been in dispute.
Frederik Øland, Violin
Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen, Violin
Asbjørn Nørgaard, Viola
Fredrik Schøyen Sjölin, Cello
Embodying the quintessential elements of a fine chamber music ensemble, the Danish String
Quartet has established a reputation for its integrated sound, impeccable intonation, and
judicious balance. Since making their debut in 2002 at the Copenhagen Festival, the musical
friends have demonstrated a passion for Scandinavian composers, whose works they frequently
incorporate into adventurous contemporary programs, while also giving skilled and profound
interpretations of the classical masters. The New York Times selected the quartet's
concerts as highlights of the season during its Chamber Music Society Two residency at
Lincoln Center. Last February, the foursome received the Borletti-Buitoni Trust
Award.
The Danish String Quartet's 2016-2017 season includes debuts at the Edinburgh Festival. In
addition to more than 30 North American engagements, its robust international schedule
takes the members to their home country, Denmark, as well as throughout Germany, Austria,
the UK, Poland, Israel, Argentina, Peru, and Colombia. As a champion of contemporary music
from Scandinavian composers, the quartet premiered Swans Kissing by Rolf Wallin, which is
based on the series of paintings by Swedish painter Hilma af Klint. Earlier this month,
they presented their 10th annual DSQ Festival, a four-day event in Copenhagen that brings
together artists the four musicians have met during their travels.
The quartet's recent debut recording on ECM Records features works by Danish composers
Hans Abrahamsen and Per Nørgård, and English composer Thomas Adès; it received the
Guardian's highest rating and debuted at number 16 on the Billboard Classical Chart. In
addition to its commitment to highlighting Scandinavian composers, the Danish String
Quartet derives great pleasure in Nordic folk music.
In 2009, the quartet won first prize in the 11th London International String Quartet
Competition (now called the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition), as well
as four additional prizes from the same jury. The ensemble received the 2010
NORDMETALL-Ensemble Prize at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival in Germany; the following
year, the Danish String Quartet won the prestigious Carl Nielsen Prize.
Torleif Thedéen is a highly regarded cellist who regularly performs with many of the
world's major orchestras, including the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Oslo
Philharmonic, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Swedish Radio
Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra,
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Vienna Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, Berliner
Philharmoniker, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, and Netherlands
Philharmonic Orchestra. He has collaborated with numerous conductors, including Esa-Pekka
Salonen, Paavo Berglund, Neeme Järvi, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Leif Segerstam, and Eri
Klas.
Mr. Thedéen is also active as a chamber musician, appearing in such prestigious concert
venues as Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, and Amsterdam's Concertgebouw. He often participates
in music festivals throughout Europe, including Verbier, Prague Spring, and
Schleswig-Holstein, as well as festivals in Bordeaux, Oslo, and Stavanger (Norway).
He recently performed the Dutilleux Cello Concerto with the Stuttgart Philharmonic
Orchestra, and the Brahms Double Concerto with Janine Jansen and the Hallé Orchestra in
Manchester. In 2011-2012, he toured extensively with Ms. Jansen and Max Rysanov, performing
at the Helleruplund Kirke and the Hørsholm Musikforening in Denmark, and in Australasia
with the Auckland Philharmonia and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.
Mr. Thedéen has recorded numerous CDs for BIS Records, including the renowned Dvořák Cello
Concerto. His CD of Shostakovich's cello concertos won the Cannes Classical Award, and his
recording of Bach's solo cello suites was named Editor's Choice in BBC Music
Magazine.
In 1992, Mr. Thedéen became a professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in
Copenhagen. Four years later, he was named a professor at Edsberg Manor at the Royal
College of Music in Stockholm. He performs on a cello crafted by David Tecchler in 1711,
which was formerly played by Lynn Harrell.
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