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November 5, 2009

Quartet to feature a few hidden gems



By Joe Hadsall

jhadsall@joplinglobe.com

Though Czech music has a rich tradition of well-known compositions, a string quartet from the Czech Republic will present hidden gems during an upcoming concert.

The Zemlinsky Quartet will perform at 7 p.m. Thursday at First Community Church, 2007 E. 15th St., as part of the Pro Musica Joplin season. The quartet will play a program that includes a rare selection from Mozart, a meditation on an old Czech chorale and a piece by Alexander von Zemlinsky, the composer for whom the quartet is named.

“This piece (‘String Quartet No. 1 A Major Op. 4’) is important for us,” said violist Petr Holman. “We play all of his quartets, but this one is the only one based on a romantic period of time. It’s very beautiful, but not well known.”

The Mozart piece is “String Quartet E flat major,” a piece that Holman says the quartet enjoys.

And “Meditation on an Old Czech Chorale ‘St. Wenceslas,’” by Joseph Suk, is a piece as laden with history as it is beauty, Holman said.

At the turn of the century, it was customary for orchestras to play an anthem. But in 1918, the political ramifications of World War I left tradition tenuous. Suk adapted his piece based on the chorale and played it instead of the anthem.

Holman, violinists Frantisek Soucek and Petr Strizek and cellist Vladimir Fortin play with what Cynthia Schwab, artistic director of Pro Musica, calls a “lyrical, expressive style.”

It’s a sound that commands a lot of the quartet’s attention in rehearsal, Holman said.

“The listener needs to hear one music coming from the stage, not four voices,” Holman said. “It’s an important difference.”

The quartet has been together since 1994. It won second place in the Banff International String Quartet competition in 2007, and first prize in the Beethoven International Competition of 1999.

It performs regularly across the world and records for Czech TV and Czech Radio.

The quartet was named for the composer Zemlinsky, who holds an important place in Czech history, Holman said. In the years surrounding World War I, relations were strained between the Czechs and the Germans. Theaters were divided and played music only of the chosen nationality.

At least they were until the Vienna-born Zemlinsky came along, Holman said.

“He worked in a German theater that played only German music,” Holman said. “He also managed in the end to premiere large works in Prague.”

Admission to Thursday’s performance is free and open to the public.

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