Three Sides of You. TOUCH
The string quartet “Chordos” presents the central concert series of the 2024 season, “Three Sides of You.” The concerts will feature some of the most significant string quartets by European and American composers. Together, the series invites contemplation of three states of being. The first concert of this series – TOUCH – is dedicated to intimacy, connection with others, the search for sensitivity, and the liberation of emotional beginnings.
PROGRAM
Alban Berg. Lyric Suite (String Quartet No. 3, 1926)
Alberto Ginastera. String Quartet No. 2, op.26 (1958)
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Alban Berg, who spent many long years in marriage, in 1925, experiences a secret and passionate 8-day love affair with Hanna Fuchs-Robettin, who is also married. Since divorce was practically impossible at the time, the composer poured out his anguish by composing this six-part Lyric Suite for string quartet. In the piece, A. Berg left traces and allusions to this forbidden love affair, including encoded initials of the lovers and quotations from recognizable pieces commenting on the composer’s state of mind. The phrase from Zemlinsky’s Lyric Symphony resounds, originally performed by a vocalist: “You are mine, my very own,” as well as the famous beginning of Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” with its theme of doomed love.
Argentinian Alberto Evaristo Ginastera is considered one of the most important 20th-century composers in the Americas. His 2nd string quartet was composed in 1958 at the commission of the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation, and it premiered that same year at the first American Music Festival in Washington, D.C., performed by the Juilliard String Quartet. The piece marks the composer’s third neo-expressionist phase. It features modern techniques along with a rhythmic impetus rooted in Argentine tango. A striking and emotional work, it becomes a test of mastery for performers due to its complexity.
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The string quartet’s 2024 season, marked by the theme “Man and People,” invites introspection while seeking strong connections with others and the world. At its core are all of us, seeking peace, challenges, passion, or meaning in life, constantly balancing internal and external forces, attention to ourselves and others.
• Ieva Sipaitytė – I violin
• Vaida Paukštienė – II violin
• Robertas Bliškevičius – viola
• Arnas Kmieliauskas – cello
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Visual identity: Kristina Pavlovaitė
Lighting design: Justas Bø
Supported by: Lithuanian Council for Culture and Vilnius City