St. Lawrence String Quartet . Todd Palmer

This concert presents two of the most beautiful quartets by Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) in conjunction with one of the most successful works for clarinet quintet of recent years, 'Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind' by the Argentine composer Osvaldo Golijov (b. 1960). Golijov is known for his combination of modern music with such genres as klezmer, tango and Jewish liturgical music. The St Lawrence String Quartet and clarinettist Todd Palmer earned worldwide praise for their recent recordings of his work. Shostakovich wrote both his Seventh and Eighth Quartets in 1960. The Seventh is the shortest of all his quartets, but also the one most dear to his heart: he dedicated it to his late wife, Nina Vassilievna, who had died in 1954. The ruins of the city of Dresden inspired him to write his Eighth Quartet. He dedicated it to the 'victims of fascism'. However, the many references to his own earlier work, in particular to his Fourth and Tenth Symphonies, suggest that he employed the term 'fascism' rather loosely and metaphorically, to refer to any totalitarian system, and that his music is therefore likely to be a reaction to the repression of Stalinism. This quartet is a highly personal expression of horror and agony. PLEASE NOTE! The date of this concert has been changed from 22 November to 21 November.