From Schubert to Silvestrov

Two chamber works for strings that were composed nearly 100 years apart lead this program. Franz Schubert’s final chamber work is considered by some to be his finest, and by others to be one of the greatest compositions in all chamber music. His 1878 String Quintet is sometimes referred to as his “Cello Quintet” because it is scored for a standard string quartet, with the addition of an extra cello instead of the extra viola. Silvestrov’s 1974 String Quartet No. 1 is the composer’s most frequently performed work, balancing between avant-garde and post-avant-garde styles, and playing with harmony and dissonance in the tried-and-true musical concept of “departure” and “return.”