Terra Memoria Dudok Quartet Amsterdam

• Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 - 1975): String Quartet No. 3 in F Major, Op. 73:
• 1 Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 3 in F Major, Op. 73: I. Allegretto 06:51
• 2 Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 3 in F Major, Op. 73: II. Moderato con moto 04:57
• 3 Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 3 in F Major, Op. 73: III. Allegro non troppo 04:14
• 4 Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 3 in F Major, Op. 73: IV. Adagio (attacca) 05:28
• 5 Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 3 in F Major, Op. 73: V. Moderato 09:54
• Kaija Saariaho (1952 - 2023): Terra Memoria for String Quartet (2007):
• 6 Saariaho: Terra Memoria for String Quartet (2007) 16:54
• Dmitri Shostakovich: 24 Preludes, Op. 34:
• 7 Shostakovich: 24 Preludes, Op. 34: No. 1 in C Major, Moderato 01:31
• 8 Shostakovich: 24 Preludes, Op. 34: No. 2 in A Minor, Allegretto 00:57
• 9 Shostakovich: 24 Preludes, Op. 34: No. 4 in E Minor 02:27
• 10 Shostakovich: 24 Preludes, Op. 34: No. 6 in B Minor 01:13
• 11 Shostakovich: 24 Preludes, Op. 34: No. 7 in A Major 01:17
• 12 Shostakovich: 24 Preludes, Op. 34: No. 12 in G-Sharp Minor 01:23
• 13 Shostakovich: 24 Preludes, Op. 34: No. 22 in G Minor 02:27
• Total Runtime 59:33

Info for Terra Memoria

Dudok Quartet Amsterdam’s catalogue continues to grow with the addition of another brilliant recording, delving into the music of Shostakovich and Saariaho.

Shostakovich regarded his 3rd String Quartet as one of his best works and initially gave each of the movements titles such as ‘blithe ignorance of the future cataclysm’ and ‘Forces of war unleashed’, but then withdrew the titles shortly after completing the work. Why he did this we do not know, maybe he was wary of the Soviet authorities reading unpatriotic meanings into them. Whatever the reasons, the 3rd is a powerful statement containing the composer’s dry humour, with a good dash of sarcasm, the sinister and the passionate.

Saariaho’s Terra Memoria, her 2nd String Quartet bears the dedication ‘for those departed’. The composer said that’ we continue to remember those who are no longer with us. Their life is complete, nothing will be added…our experiences of being with them, different aspects of their personality, certain memories haunt our dreams, some remain clear flashes which we can relive’

Dudok Quartet Amsterdam

The Dudok Quartet Amsterdam
is one of the most versatile and appealing string quartets of this time. The quartet’s aim is to share the heart of music through captivating performances and an open approach of the audience.

In June of 2013, the Dudok Quartet Amsterdam has finished their studies at the Dutch String Quartet Academy with highest distinction. In November of 2014 the Dudok Quartet was awarded the Kersjesprize, an award annually given to an ensemble of exceptional talent in the Dutch chamber music scene. The quartet furthermore received top prizes in various international string quartet competitions in Bordeaux (Concours international quatuor à cordes), Weimar (Internationaler Joseph Joachim Kammermusikwettbewerb), The Netherlands (Charles Hennen Competition/Orlando Competition) and Poland (Radom first international string quartet competition)

The members of the quartet first met in the Ricciotti Ensemble, a Dutch street symphony orchestra. The ensemble was founded in 2009. During the first two years since then, the Dudok Quartet Amsterdam studied with the Alban Berg Quartett at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne. After that, they studied with Marc Danel at the Dutch String Quartet Academy. Further important artistic impulses came from Eberhard Feltz, Peter Cropper (Lindsay Quartet), Luc-Marie Aguera (Quatuor Ysaÿe) and Stefan Metz.

Many well-known contemporary classical composers, such as Kaija Saariaho, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Calliope Tsoupaki and Max Knigge worked with the quartet on their music. In 2014, the Dudok Quartet Amsterdam has signed for several recordings with Resonus Classics, the world’s first solely digital classical music label. Both their first two albums, combining string quartet core repertoire by Haydn and Mozart with both string quartets by György Ligeti and world premieres of the ensembles own arrangements, have been received with unanimous praise in international press reviews including an Editor’s Choice in Gramophone magazine. 2016 saw the premiere of Kaija Saariaho’s opera Only the Sound remains, featuring the Dudok Quartet Amsterdam in a leading role accompanying the world-renowned countertenor Philippe Jaroussky.

The Dudok Quartet Amsterdam has performed with many renowned guest musicians such as recorder player Erik Bosgraaf, pianists Alexei Lubimov, Hannes Minnaar, Ralph van Raat and Daria van den Bercken, and cellists Pieter Wispelwey, Dmitri Ferschtman and Quirine Viersen. The Dudok Quartet Amsterdam performed at many prestigious festivals and venues throughout Europe and in the United States of America, such as the Grachten Festival, the Orlando Festival, Festival Quatuors à Bordeaux and Festival Jeunes Talents (France), Carinthischer Sommer and the Vienna Konzerthaus (Austria), Haydn Festival Fertöd (Hungary), Davos Festival (Switzerland), the Linari Classic Festival (Italy) and the Léon Chamber Music Festival and Festival Música en Segura (Spain), Winter Chamber Music Festival (Il, USA)

Willem Marinus Dudok (1884 – 1974) was a famous Dutch architect. He was also a great lover of music: he came from a musical family and composed music in his spare time. “I owe more to composers than I owe to any architect”, he wrote. “I feel deeply the common core of music and architecture: after all, they both derive their value from the right proportions.”

Booklet for Terra Memoria