The outstanding Karol Szymanowski Quartet will start the August edition of the Emanacje Festival in Lusławice. On 1 and 2 August 2020 the ensemble will perform two late string quartets by Krzysztof Penderecki and an early quartet by Ludwig van Beethoven.
Penderecki often emphasided that for him Beethoven was a very important composer. Although he is considered one of the Viennese classics, he definitely went beyond the classical rules of composition. Beethoven revolutionized almost every genre he created, and his string quartets became a special ground for changes. Twentieth-century music developed in a direction far from Beethoven's harmonic and formal patterns, and the string quartet was finally freed from comparisons with the late works of the last classic, becoming a medium of personal expression.
Penderecki's String Quartet No. 3 (2008) follows this trend. The title "Pages from an Unwritten Diary" indicates that the music brings personal confession. Stylistically, the work is in line with the Haydn-Beethoven tradition, representing the neo-romantic chamber music. String Quartet No. 4 (2016) – the last quartet in Penderecki's catalog of works – was written in a similar style. It was composed for the Belcea Quartet, one of the best string quartets in the world. The composer worked on the extended version of the piece until the end of his life. Death interrupted the process of expanding the work, which remained a nostalgic reflection of memory, the symbolic last page of the Artist's sound diary.
Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.
Full programme available at: www.emanacje.pl