Three centuries of chamber music, including the original setting of Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings,” are on the program when the Spokane String Quartet takes the stage at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 16, at the Bing Crosby Theater.
All seats are general admission. Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and free for under 18 and students with ID. Tickets are available at this link or at the door.
Joseph Haydn’s Opus 20, No. 3 String Quartet utilizes many of the formal conventions and aesthetic values that coalesced into and defined “The Classical Era String Quartet.” The four-movement quartet form has fast outer movements, with a dance and adagio (slow) inner movements. Haydn recognized the perfect sound balance and clarity when a cello, viola, and two violins seamlessly play together in rich four-part harmony and counterpoint. Haydn’s quartets feature a more democratic intimate conversation among equals, often including Haydn’s musical wit and humor. Collectively, these characteristics are among the reasons why Haydn is known as “the Father of the String Quartet.”
Russian-born Polina Nazaykinskaya continues to be inspired by the Russian folk songs that she heard in childhood, filled with polyphonic melodies and harmonic dissonance. For Nazaykinskaya, “Each piece of music that I write comes from the depth of my heart, from the inner ocean of emotions and possibilities that are carried by the waves of memories.” She considers herself a Neo-Romantic, using juxtaposed melodies to achieve color and emotionality with sound.
When Samuel Barber was composing his Op. 11 String Quartet, he wrote to a colleague: “I have just finished the slow movement of my quartet today – it is a knockout! Now for a Finale.” Barber struggled to achieve the ultimate version of the third movement Finale. Meanwhile, he arranged a “stand alone” string orchestra version of the Quartet’s second movement Adagio. This string orchestra “Adagio for Strings” was premiered by the legendary conductor Arturo Toscanini with resounding success. Despite the universal reverence for Barber’s Adagio for Strings, there are those who prefer the transcendent intimacy of his Opus 11 String Quartet.