The outstanding Sonoro Quartet, featuring Cork violist Séamus Hickey, returns for a third tour for the Foundation.

Donnacha Dennehy’s Chorale was premiered at the 2023 West Cork Chamber Music Festival. The composer writes that “when this piece first opens it may seem unusual that it has the title Chorale. But gradually chorales emerge from these whirling maelstroms of heightened anxiety, like mists emanating from storm patterns… Some of these harmonies are taken from a Bach chorale with the text ‘your word was for a long time obscured’ .”

Osvaldo Golijov’s hauntingly beautiful Tenebrae reflects both the brutality of human conflict and the parallel perspective of the earth’s serene progress through space. It was written in 2000 when the composer found himself caught up in the latest wave of violence in the Middle East but then just a week later visited the New York planetarium with his five-year-old son, viewing the earth as a small dot amongst the stars of the cosmos.

Shostakovich wrote his fifth quartet in the last months of Stalin’s repressive rule over the Soviet Union. This was a time when, accused by the authorities of writing music that “dwells too much on the dark and fearful aspects of reality”, Shostakovich had been forced to read a humiliating apology and to promise to mend his ways. He composed a series of patriotic cantatas and film scores to please Soviet officialdom, while wisely delaying publication of this quartet, his ‘real’ music, until after Stalin’s death. It is a work of great contrasts with many moments of sublime beauty, but, unsurprisingly, dark shadows are always lurking.

In association with the National String Quartet Foundation.

Programme

Donnacha Dennehy Chorale [2023]
Osvaldo Golijov Tenebrae [2000]
Shostakovich Quartet No.5 [1952]

About the Sonoro Quartet

Founded in 2019 and featuring Cork violist Séamus Hickey, the Sonoro Quartet has already established itself as one of the leading young string quartets of its generation. They perform over forty concerts annually in countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, and Ireland, making them one of the most active string quartets in Belgium.

Their repertoire encompasses classical masterpieces as well as works by contemporary composers. They have graced renowned venues including Bijloke in Ghent, Bozar in Brussels, Tivoli Vredenburg in Utrecht, National Concert Hall in Dublin, the Liszt Academy and Bartók Memorial House in Budapest, and Desingel in Antwerp. The quartet has also been invited to perform at festivals such as Festival Midis-Minimes, The Young Generation Bozar, B-Classic, Storioni Festival, West Cork Chamber Music Festival, and Rotterdam Chamber Music Society, among others.

The Sonoro Quartet has recorded for esteemed radio stations like Klara (Belgium), RTE (Ireland), Bartók Radio Budapest, and SWR (Germany). As part of the Beethoven Fest 2020 in Bonn, they premiered Eric Domenech’s string quartet on SWR.

Currently, the quartet is studying at the Dutch String Quartet Academy (NSKA) in Amsterdam, receiving guidance from renowned artists such as Marc Danel and Gilles Millet (Quatuor Danel) and Eberhard Feltz. They have also received lessons from Gary Hoffman and Heime Müller, founder of the Artemis Quartet.

In October 2021, the Sonoro Quartet received the 3rd prize and two special prizes at the Bartók World Competition for string quartets in Budapest. Their dynamic interpretations and musical maturity left a lasting impression on the audience and the jury, which included esteemed musicians such as Mikhail Kopelman (Borodin Quartet), András Keller (Keller Quartet), Barnabás Kelemen (Kelemen Quartet), Bjørg Lewis (Vertavo Quartet), Johannes Meissl, and others.

In 2022, they were selected as one of the participating quartets in the prestigious Banff International String Quartet Competition.

In March 2022, the Sonoro Quartet was chosen as ECHO Rising Stars for the 2023-2024 season, embarking on a concert tour that includes 17 performances in leading European halls.

The quartet has been selected to join the MERITA Platform, where they will present concerts throughout Europe featuring a brand-new project.