Aurora Orchestra: American Quartets

Journey through a century of string quartets from America, performed and introduced by the principal string players of Aurora. Time suspends in Samuel Barber’s Quartet, the second movement of which is the original source of his most famous work, Adagio for Strings – music of extraordinary tenderness and intensity: its long, soaring lines gathering emotion until they seem almost to suspend time.

Barber String Quartet in B minor (full work)
Montgomery Strum
Dvořák String Quartet No 12, American

Written almost a century later, Jessie Montgomery’s Strum weaves together American folk idioms, journeying from wistful nostalgia to ecstatic celebration. From here, the evening culminates in Dvořák’s beloved ‘American’ String Quartet, written during his time in the United States. Its irresistible melodies, rhythmic vitality and sense of open space makes it a perfect finale for a performance where the boundaries between player and listener are dissolved, as Aurora’s players offer their insight into the programme from the stage.

The performance will last approximately one hour, without an interval.