Every musical configuration, be it vocal or instrumental, choral or symphonic, chamber or solo, is a distinctive window of the soul. The string octet is one of the more unusual windows, and the Pražák and Zemlinsky Quartets are joining together to explore the view. Throughout Coleman’s years, the Gade octet will be heard by our audiences for the first time, and the Mendelssohn and Shostakovich octets each for just the third time.

Both Quartets are Czech, and both won the Premier Grand Prix at the Bordeaux International String Competition: the Zemlinsky in 2010, the Pražák in 1978 (at that time the Evian Competition). Each quartet was founded by students in Prague, the Pražák in 1972 and the Zemlinsky in 1994.

PROGRAM

Gade — String Octet in F Major, Op. 17
Shostakovich — Two Pieces for String Octet, Op. 11
Mendelssohn — String Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20

View or download the program notes

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