Jerusalem Quartet
Music Under Tyranny
Performers
Jerusalem Quartet
·· Alexander Pavlovsky, Violin
·· Sergei Bresler, Violin
·· Ori Kam, Viola
·· Kyril Zlotnikov, Cello
Program
PROKOFIEV String Quartet No. 2 in F Major, Op. 92
SHOSTAKOVICH String Quartet No. 10 in A-flat Major
BARTÓK String Quartet No. 6
Encore:
SKORYK Melody
Event Duration
The printed program will last approximately two hours, including one 20-minute intermission.At a Glance
PROKOFIEV String Quartet No. 2 in F Major, Op. 92
Prokofiev cultivated a sharply etched, ironic, and occasionally acerbic style that propelled him to the forefront of the modernist movement in the years before and during World War I. Yet in his lyrical moments, he was equally capable of childlike simplicity and directness. The combination of traditional and avant-garde elements helps explain the enduring appeal of his music. The String Quartet No. 2 incorporates folk songs and dances from the Caucasus region, where Prokofiev took refuge during World War II.
SHOSTAKOVICH String Quartet No. 10 in A-flat Major, Op. 118
Perhaps more than any composer since Beethoven, Shostakovich employed the string quartet as a vehicle for his deepest ruminations on the human condition. The 10th of his 15 quartets dates from 1964, a period in which the beleaguered composer—whose music had long been suppressed by Soviet authorities—finally achieved the recognition he deserved, both at home and abroad.
BARTÓK String Quartet No. 6
Composed in Switzerland and Hungary just before and after the outbreak of World War II, the last of Bartók’s six quartets is very much a work of its time. The prevailing mood is conveyed by the Italian word that the composer attached to each of the four movements: mesto or “sad.”