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A List
9/25/06
ALEXANDER STRING QUARTET PLAYS SHOSTAKOVICH AT SLU
CANTON - The Alexander String Quartet, St. Lawrence University's quartet-in-residence,
will be on campus Tuesday through Thursday, October 3 through 5, with performances
and discussions centering on Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich.
On Wednesday, October 4, the Alexander will give an informal performance and talk
at noon in Gunnison Memorial Chapel. Shostakovich's last work, the Viola Sonata,
Op. 147 will be played by violist Paul Yarbrough, with Barbara Phillips-Farley
at the piano, along with excerpts from the composer's quartets.
Also on October 4, at 8 p.m. in the Gilbert Recital Hall, Griffiths Arts Center,
members of the Alexander Quartet will be joined by St. Lawrence music department
faculty and Crane faculty members Eugenia Tsarov and Boris Loushin in a public
forum entitled "Meaning in Music: The Shostakovich Dilemma." The discussion
will center on interpreting meaning in instrumental, or so-called abstract
music, but use the particular problems of Shostakovich's music - emotionally
charged and enigmatic pieces composed while operating in a totalitarian state.
The Alexander String Quartet will perform in concert on Thursday, October 5,
at 7:30 p.m. in Gulick Theater, featuring three Shostakovich quartets, as well
as some of the prelude and fugue arrangements.
Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, the Alexander has just completed
an acclaimed recording project of the complete music for string quartet by
Shostakovich.
The first of a two-volume set was released earlier this year, including the first seven
String Quartets, the Piano Quintet and arrangements by first violinist Zakarius Grafilo
of selections from Shostakovich's 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87 for piano. The second
volume is due for release in early 2007.
The events are part of a series, presented with SUNY Potsdam's Crane School
of Music, titled "A Shostakovich Festival: A Centennial Celebration of Soviet
Russia's Greatest Composer." Born September 25, 1906, Shostakovich is universally
regarded as the Soviet Union's greatest composer. His large output of symphonic,
vocal, piano, chamber and film music distinguishes him as one of the most important
figures in 20th-century music.
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More information: Music at St. Lawrence
The Alexander String Quartet Web Site
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