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.

SONORO QUARTET

Programme

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

About the Sonoro Quartet

Founded in 2019, Sonoro Quartet is one of the leading young string quartets of its generation. With members hailing from Ireland and Belgium, their repertoire seamlessly blends classical masterpieces with contemporary works and commissions.

In 2022, the quartet was selected as ECHO Rising Stars for the 2023-2024 season, embarking on a concert tour across Europe that includes performances in some of the continent’s most prestigious venues. Sonoro Quartet is also part of the MERITA Platform, presenting an innovative artistic project through concerts across Europe. 2023 marked significant milestones for the quartet, including debuts at renowned venues such as Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Musikverein Vienna, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Kölner Philharmonie, and Philharmonie de Luxembourg. In July, they toured New Zealand, performing 11 concerts across the North and South Islands.

The quartet gained international recognition in October 2021, winning 3rd prize and two special prizes at the Bartók World Competition for String Quartets in Budapest. Their performances of Bartók’s quartets at the Bartók Memorial House further cemented their reputation for dynamic interpretation and musical depth. Currently attached at the Netherlands String Quartet Academy (NSKA) in Amsterdam, the quartet receives mentorship from celebrated artists such as Marc Danel and Gilles Millet (Quatuor Danel) and Eberhard Feltz. They have also worked with members of Quatuor Ébène, Pavel Haas Quartet, Belcea Quartet, and Artemis Quartet. Sonoro Quartet has performed at distinguished festivals, including Festival Midis-Minimes, B-Classic, Storioni Festival, West Cork Chamber Music Festival, and Rotterdam Chamber Music Society.

They are set to return to Ireland in Spring 2025 for a tour with the National String Quartet Foundation and making their debut in Norway at the Lofoten International Chamber Music Festival. Their performances have been featured on international radio stations such as Klara (Belgium), RTÉ (Ireland), Bartók Radio Budapest, SWR (Germany), Radio New Zealand. In 2020, as part of the Beethoven Fest in Bonn, they premiered Eric Domenech’s string quartet, broadcast by SWR.

The quartet has enjoyed performing at iconic venues, including Bozar Brussels, Liszt Academy Budapest, Bartók Memorial House Budapest, TivoliVredenburg Utrecht, National Concert Hall Dublin, and The Piano in Christchurch, New Zealand.