Attacca Quartet

Two-time GRAMMY Award-winning Attacca Quartet is one of the most fearless and opinionated young quartets at work today. They make their UKARIA debut with a recital that exemplifies the ensemble’s unique character and programming style.

Renowned in the US and Europe for the deft blending of old and new compositional voices, the Quartet’s first half is designed as a spirited exchange. The protagonists are young American composers of the moment Caroline Shaw and Paul Wiancko, Ravel’s String Quartet (featured in Attacca’s latest album) and an arrangement of Radiohead by the Quartet’s violist Nathan Schram.

The second half is a study in contrasts, and an opportunity to hear the Attacca Quartet present their account of a canonic staple: Beethoven’s ground-breaking late Op. 132 Quartet. This 200-year old quartet, written in the last years of the composer’s life, features the revered Heiliger Dankgesang movement, the ‘hymn of thanksgiving’ for recovery after a serious illness. This recital is an opportunity to hear a trailblazing ensemble present their take on one of the most venerated works in the chamber music repertoire.

Caroline Shaw (b. 1982)
Entr’acte [11']

Paul Wiancko (b. 1983)
Benkei’s Standing Death [5']

Part I: The Thousandth Encounter

Radiohead (arr. Nathan Schram for string quartet)
2+2=5 [4']

Caroline Shaw (b. 1982)
Three Essays [4']

II. Second Essay (Echo)

Maurice Ravel (1865–1937)
String Quartet in F, M. 35 [9']

I. Allegro moderato

Caroline Shaw (b. 1982)
The Evergreen [8']

IV. Root

INTERVAL

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132 [45']

I. Assai sostenuto – Allegro
II. Allegro ma non tanto
III. Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesenen an die Gottheit, in der Lydischen Tonart: Molto adagio – Andante
IV. Alla marcia, assai vivace
V. Allegro appassionato