Presented by Leo Samama.
Valentin Silvestrov (1937-) – Quartetto Piccolo (1961)
Allegretto, 2. Andante, 3. Allegretto
Performers: Lysenko String Quartet
CD: Etcetera
Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998) – Third String Quartet (1983)
Andante, 2. Agitato, 3. Pesante
Performers: Matangi Quartet
CD: Matangi Quartet
Valentin Silvestrov (1937-) – String Quartet No. 2 (1988)
Performers: Lysenko String Quartet
CD: Etcetera
To start off, a real miniature, one of Silvestrov’s early works, the Quartetto Piccolo from 1961. It seems that the composer wanted to surpass his early model Anton Webern here.
In Alfred Schnittke’s Third String Quartet, the technique of polystylism is central. With this term, Schnittke meant exactly what we hear, elements from all kinds of style periods that are collected, sometimes almost in a collegiate manner, and woven together into a musical story. With a reference to a Stabat mater by Orlando di Lasso in the very first movement; after all, the work is a commission from the Orlando Quartet.
Finally, we return to the Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov and let his Second String Quartet from 1988 be heard. The way in which Silvestrov deals with the most musical elements in this work is entirely different from Schnittke’s approach. Silvestrov immerses himself completely in a single style and distorts it many times into a dream landscape. Thus, he left the future of the avant-garde behind and focused on the future of the past.
