String Octets

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Image courtesy of L'auditori

When Felix Mendelssohn wrote his Octet in E-Flat major, he was only 16 years old, but he had already mastered the art of composition: from Mozartian energy and brilliance to formal and textural mastery, this vertiginous composition weaves a sonorous filigree that captivates with its richness.

Shostakovich’s Two Pieces for String Octet evokes the severity of Bach but also heralds the piercing sarcasm and indomitable spirit of his early symphonies. This is music at its most intense, full of sharp contrasts that test the precision and complicity of the musicians, who must be capable of alternating profound lyricism with bursts of wild energy in a piece that lends itself perfectly to the richness of this type of ensemble: from the transparency and classical modelling of Mendelssohn to the unsettling shadows of Shostakovich. An intense journey through two radical visions in this rarely performed genre, featuring two works by two composers who became prodigies before they turned 20.

Program

• Felix Mendelssohn: String Octet in E-flat major, Op. 20 (1825) 35’
• Dmitri Shostakovich: Two Pieces for String Octet, Op. 11 (1924-1925) 15’

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