Muss es sein?

  • Jan 29Jan 30Livestream

    Grief can sometimes be joyous

    A concert about grief both large and small, the ache of separation and the warmth of togetherness, and everything in between. Two final masterworks anchor the program: Beethoven's enigmatic String Quartet Op. 135, the last piece he ever completed, poses the question that gives this concert its name - Muß es sein? ("Must it be?"). His answer comes swiftly, in simplicity and joy while the other compositions find their own answers. Strauss's Four Last Songs, arranged for string quartet and singer by Otis Harriel, featuring soprano Cara Gabrielson, are a tender love letter - a reflection on two lives fully lived, his and his wife's. Against these towering works stand two contemporary voices: Caroline Shaw's Cant voi l'aube and a world premiere by Bay Area composer Mark Winges - each answering grief's call across centuries, in their own language.

    - Curated by Otis Harriel

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    Program

    Caroline Shaw - Cant voi l'aube

    Mark Winges - OneFour

    Richard Strauss - Four Last Songs

    I. Frühling

    II. September

    III. Beim Schlafengehen

    IV. Im Abendrot

    Ludwig van Beethoven - String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135

    I. Allegretto

    II. Vivace 

    III. Lento assai, cantabile e tranquillo

    IV. Der schwer gefaßte Entschluß. Grave, ma non troppo tratto (Muss es sein?) – Allegro (Es muss sein!)

    Performers

    Cara Gabrielson, soprano

    Friction Quartet

    Otis Harriel, violin

    Kevin Rogers, violin

    Mitso Floor, viola

    Doug Machiz, cello