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William Walton String Quartet No. 2
Walton spent World War II writing film scores, including the music to Henry V (he had originally wanted to serve as an ambulance driver, but after he landed several ambulances in the ditch, the government decided that he would be more useful as a composer). In the summer of 1945, months after the end of… Continue Reading
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Bartók String Quartet No. 6
One of the paramount qualities of the Bartók quartets as a series is that—like Beethoven’s—they exemplify growth. The problems and possibilities of string quartet writing are not of the kind that imply a single solution, no matter how perfect, nor a single form, no matter how refined. With the composition of the Sixth Quartet, then,… Continue Reading
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Shostakovich Quartet No. 6 in G Major, Opus 101
Shostakovich’s sudden re-marriage in the summer of 1956 caught even his closest friends by surprise. His first wife, the physicist Nina Varzar, had died suddenly in December 1954, and eighteen months later the shy composer impulsively proposed to a pretty young party official, Margarita Kainova. She just as impulsively accepted, and they were married in… Continue Reading
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Shostakovich Quartet No. 5 in B-flat Major, Opus 92
Shostakovich wrote his Fifth String Quartet in the fall of 1952, but it remained in manuscript, unperformed, for over a year—and for very good reasons. Not only were these some of the darkest years of the Cold War, they were also the paranoid final years of Stalin’s repressive regime. Four years earlier, at the 1948… Continue Reading
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Looking ahead to March 2017
The Alexander String Quartet is looking ahead to a busy March schedule filled with exciting performances from coast-to-coast! Saturday March 4, 2017 10:00 am Shostakovich String Quartet Cycle San Francisco Performances Inc. Herbst Theatre San Francisco, CaliforniaTel: (415) 398-6449 Web: performances.org Program: ASQ with lecturer, Robert Greenberg Shostakovich Quartet No. 5 in B-flat Major, Op.… Continue Reading
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Shostakovich Quartet No. 4 in D Major, Opus 83
The Soviet crackdown on composers in February 1948 remains, over half a century later, one of the most devastating examples of government interference and censorship in history. Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Khachaturian, Miaskovsky, and others were excoriated for their “formalistic distortions and anti-democratic tendencies” and for writing “confused, neuropathological combinations which transform music into cacophony.” These composers… Continue Reading
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Shostakovich Quartet No. 3 in F Major, Opus 73
The Third String Quartet was Shostakovich’s only composition during the year 1946. He dedicated it to the members of the Beethoven Quartet, who gave the first performance in Moscow on their namesake’s 176th birthday, December 16, 1946. The mention of Beethoven is apt, for many observers have felt that this quartet, particularly in its heartfelt… Continue Reading
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Shostakovich Quartet No. 2, in A Major, Op. 68
The works Shostakovich composed during World War II—or, as the Russians call it, The Great Patriotic War—form a distinct chapter in his output. These include the wartime music one might expect—marches, choruses, and even settings of songs of Russia’s allies (including, in 1943, an arrangement of When Johnny Comes Marching Home)—but Shostakovich made his major… Continue Reading
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Shostakovich String Quartet No. 1, Op. 49
Shostakovich wrote his String Quartet No. 1 during a defining interlude in his career. He had achieved international fame at age 20 with his First Symphony, and his 1934 opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District— with its explicit sexual content and sordid events—had reinforced that reputation during performances as far away as Cleveland, London,… Continue Reading
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New Year Reflections
Once again another year has flown by for the Alexander String Quartet. 2016 has been another great year spanning the end of 35th and into our 36th seasons. We spent the actual anniversary of our first concert (August 4th) spread from pillar to post. Fred was in Boston visiting family, Paul was keeping the home… Continue Reading
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Two New York Premieres at Baruch College
The Alexander String Quartet is looking forward to present two East Coast premieres next week during our Baruch College residency! Wednesday November 16, 2016 – 7:30pm Baruch Performing Arts Center Baruch College, City University of New York Engleman Recital Hall, NYC, NY East Coast premiere of Cindy Cox’s Patagón! Also featuring the Haydn Quartet in… Continue Reading
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Boise Chamber Music Series Celebrates 30 Years!
The Alexander String Quartet is honored to be a part of the Boise Chamber Music Series’ 30th Anniversary Celebrations! The party officially begins tonight (Friday, October 7th) and continues through Saturday. See the schedule below: Friday, October 7 | 7:30pm – 9:30pm | Morrison Center Recital Hall Boise Chamber Music Series: The Alexander Quartet, with… Continue Reading
