Commissioned for the 2022 Strijkkwartet Biennale Amsterdam which was cancelled due to the coronavirus, Jonathan Dove's quartet Togetherness aptly explores the experience of isolation in the pandemic and the joy of physically reconnecting afterwards. At first the players are physically separated as far as possible in the performing space where they can communicate but not share a common pulse, once it is finally safe for all the players to come together on stage, in their usual close configuration there is an explosion of delight: the joy of togetherness, of feeling and sharing a common pulse.
The new quartet is programmed with Jonathan Dove’s In Damascus for tenor and string quartet, which sets words by Syrian poet Ali Safar in English translation by Anne-Marie McManus of A Black Cloud in a Leaden White Sky, or Death by Stabs of Sorrow – an eloquent, thoughtful account of life is a war-torn country.
Cuarteto Quiroga will premiere the work at Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam, with performances on January 11, 12 & 13.
Find out more and get tickets here.
