ENTERTAINMENT: Quartet to perform work of three composers in Castlebar

The outstanding Sonoro Quartet, featuring Cork violist Séamus Hickey, will perform in the Linenhall Arts Centre, Castlebar, on Wednesday, February 5, as part of their tour for the National String Quartet Foundation. The concert’s programme will feature Donnacha Dennehy’s Chorale (2023), Dmitri Shostakovich’s- Quartet No.5 (1952) and Claude Debussy’s Quartet (1893).
Donnacha Dennehy’s Chorale, based in part on harmonies from a Bach chorale, was premiered at the 2023 West Cork Chamber Music Festival. The composer writes that when this piece first opens ‘it may seem unusual that it has the title Chorale’: “But gradually chorales emerge from these whirling maelstroms of heightened anxiety, like mists emanating from storm patterns.”
Shostakovich wrote his fifth quartet in the last months of Stalin’s repressive rule over the Soviet Union. This was a time when – accused by the authorities of writing music that ‘dwells too much on the dark and fearful aspects of reality’ – Shostakovich had been forced to read a humiliating apology and to promise to mend his ways.
He composed a series of patriotic cantatas and film scores to please Soviet officialdom, while wisely delaying publication of this quartet, his ‘real’ music, until after Stalin’s death. It is a work of great contrasts with many moments of sublime beauty, but, unsurprisingly, dark shadows are always lurking.
Debussy was a contemporary of Impressionist painters Monet and Renoir, and the miraculous swirling colours and textures of his music offer a clear musical parallel to their paintings. His superb 1893 string quartet remains a popular favourite amongst audiences.
Founded in 2019, the Sonoro Quartet has already established itself as one of the leading young string quartets of its generation. They perform over 40 concerts annually in countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, and Ireland, making them one of the most active string quartets in Belgium.
Their repertoire encompasses classical masterpieces as well as works by contemporary composers. They have graced renowned venues including Bijloke in Ghent, Bozar in Brussels, Tivoli Vredenburg in Utrecht, National Concert Hall in Dublin, the Liszt Academy and Bartók Memorial House in Budapest, and Desingel in Antwerp. The quartet has also been invited to perform at festivals such as Festival Midis-Minimes, The Young Generation Bozar, B-Classic, Storioni Festival, West Cork Chamber Music Festival, and Rotterdam Chamber Music Society, among others.
The Sonoro Quartet has also recorded for RTÉ and other esteemed radio stations, like Klara (Belgium), Bartók Radio Budapest and SWR (Germany).
For tickets to the performance, which starts at 8pm, visit the Linenhall Art Centre’s website, thelinenhall.com, or contact the venue’s box office on 094 9023733.