Quatouor Danel

‘From Cradle to Grave’

Shostakovich String Quartet No. 1

Shostakovich String Quartet No. 8

Shostakovich String Quartet No. 15

Across three concerts, Quatuor Danel traces the personal and political landscape of Shostakovich’s life through a selection of his string quartets – works he once described as a “diary”. This private world gives unguarded reflections ranging from fleeting joy to grief and introspection to resistance, sardonic humour and the grotesque.

Mentored by the Borodin Quartet, Quatuor Danel has established itself as one of the foremost interpreters of Russian music including the Shostakovich quartets

“I was agog with wonder at the finesse and delicacy” THE TIMES

The three themed concerts explore ‘Friends and Mentors’, ‘Folk Themes’ and ‘From Cradle to Grave’.

‘From Cradle to Grave’:

The closing programme spans the relative simplicity and classical charm of Quartet No.1, perhaps inspired by childhood memories; the harrowing cry of resistance in No.8, dedicated ‘to the victims of fascism and war”; and the bleak, resigned stillness of No.15, as Shostakovich faced serious illness in the last year of his life.