The Cypress String Quartet presents its 11th Annual Call & Response concert on Friday, February 26 at Herbst Theatre (401 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco). The concert includes the world premiere of a string quartet based on Ann Patchett’s novel Bel Canto, commissioned by the Cypress Quartet from Boston-based composer Elena Ruehr, as well as Mozart’s String Quartet in D Major, K.575 and Schubert’s String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor, “Death and the Maiden.” A pre-concert talk with Ms. Ruehr will begin at 7:15pm.
The Call & Response program was born out of the Cypress’s commitment to present music as a dynamic and ongoing process of inspiration. Each year, the ensemble selects two works from the standard string quartet repertoire (the call) and commissions a third work (the response) based on inspiration derived from the two older works, exploring how contemporary music is a natural evolution of older works. For Call & Response 2010, instead of drawing inspiration solely from music, the Cypress examines how literature has influenced and inspired music through Elena Ruehr’s new work based on the novel Bel Canto.
For the 2010 Call & Response concert, Ms. Ruehr’s Bel Canto will be paired with older masterpieces also inspired by literature: Mozart's String Quartet in D Major K. 575 which drew inspiration from Goethe's poem “The Violet,” and Schubert's “Death and the Maiden” string quartet, which was inspired by a poem by German poet, Matthias Claudius.
Over just a decade, the Cypress String Quartet has commissioned and premiered more than 30 new works, four of which are now included on Chamber Music America’s list of 101 Great American Ensemble Works.
Known for their elegant performances, the Cypress’s sound has been called “beautifully proportioned and powerful” by The Washington Post, and the ensemble has been singled out by Chamber Music Magazine as “a Generation X ensemble to watch.”
- Venue: Herbst Theatre
- Date: Fri February 26, 2010 8:00pm
- City: San Francisco
- Price Range: $20-$40 Adults / $10-$20 Students & Seniors
- Tickets: 415-392-4400
- Email |
Program
Mozart
String Quartet in D Major, K.575
Elena Ruehr
Bel Canto (world premiere)
Schubert
String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor, “Death and the Maiden”
More About This Event
SFCV Previews
February 1, 2010
For its “Call & Response” program this year, San Francisco’s Cypress String Quartet is returning to a composer friend whom they’d commissioned earlier in the program’s 11-year history. That’s Elena Ruehr, who came out from Boston last month to work with the ensemble on her String Quartet No. 5, premiering at the end of February at Herbst Theatre. Mutual admiration is tangible between Ruehr and Cypress cellist Jennifer Kloetzel as they talk about their extended collaboration, begun with the composer’s String Quartet No. 4, written for “Call & Response” in 2005. More »
