Concert: Music of sorrow, joy and transcendence: Three string quartets.

The Aryaloka String Quartet will perform a concert of three quartets by Shostakovich, Max Mueller (the premiere of this work) and Ludwig van Beethoven.  Superficially these works are very different. However they all explore and express our very human longings, joys, sorrows, and the desire for transcendence. 

The Soviet composer Dimitri Shostakovich composed his fourth quartet in 1949, a time of great challenges for Soviet artists. Yet, while there is apparent discord in its music, it is, at the same time, full of a serene tranquility, lyricism as well as humor and fun.

The first quartet of the American composer Max Mueller was commissioned for the Aryaloka Quartet by Barbara Thomas. Max Mueller is a Los Angeles based film composer and orchestrator. He has scored several short and feature films. 

At the end of his life Beethoven poured his creative energies into writing five string quartets. Opus 132 is the second of these. Richard Wagner said of these late quartets, “Let us wonder at the entirely new world…that meets us there.” JNW Sullivan writes:

“In the last quartets…Beethoven is exploring new regions of consciousness. When we come to the last quartets we find a remote spiritual content. We here become aware not only of new syntheses of spiritual elements, but of radically new elements.” 

Please join us in traversing these diverse musical landscapes of the human spirit. Listen and dare to be transported and transformed.

Doors at 6:30pm, concert at 7pm. Light refreshments will be served. All proceeds to benefit World Central Kitchen. We will be collecting donations for the musicians on site.

Learn more about the quartet here.

You can access helpful information about attending events at Aryaloka here.
 

How are we coming together safely?

• If you know you have been exposed to Covid-19 or if you have had Covid-19 within a five day period of the event’s start-time, we ask that you not attend in-person.
• Masks are optional unless otherwise stated. Please wear a mask if you have recovered from Covid-19 and are still between days 6 and 10 from your first positive test.
• If you have cold or flu symptoms, we ask that you do not attend in-person.
• We have installed new air purifiers with virus-destroying technology! 

Zoom options are available for some events. Transfer of fees or refunds are also available for illness or illness-preventative related absence. Please email info@aryaloka.org if you have any questions about our safety protocols.