The Orava

You get to hear strange names during Ottawa's Music and Beyond Festival, names you haven't heard before. One that will stick in my mind is Orava, the name of a string quartet of young men from Brisbane, Australia. Two of the four, Daniel and Karol Kowalik, are brothers of Polish heritage who like to showcase Polish music when they can. The last item in their concert here on 6th July was called Orava; it was a modern arrangement of music from the mountainous region of Poland (bordering Slovakia) also of that name: this is "the folk music of the mountain men who sing there in summer". The quartet took its name from this piece. The piece in question started with a repetitive phrase played by the two violins, with the lower instruments then joining in. It had a Bartok-like character, I thought.

The enthusiasm of the young Australians came across. They gave us a Haydn quartet first (Op. 33 No.1 in B minor), some of which I confess I missed because I was late, having gone to the wrong venue first. That's by the way. Then came the piece I'd been particularly keen to hear, Shostakovich's Quartet No. 8 in C minor.  I have heard it before; I recognised it. It is a very intense experience, listening to this. It was written in a mere four days in the heat of emotion and its five sections are played without a break. It is a sort of Jewish (although the composer was not Jewish) lament or sad dance, written in 1960 in response to the horrors of the 2nd World War and the bombing of Dresden. the results of which the composer had just witnessed. Officially he dedicated the work "to the victims of war" but privately he told his daughter that this was actually a Requiem to himself, since he never knew who might come knocking at the door to arrest him for subversion and thought he might not survive. Apparently Shostakovich slept close to the door in those days so that, if this were to happen, his family would not be disturbed by his arrest! The music has "an arch-like structure", with a melancholic start and finish, quoting the notes D-S-C-H (his musical signature) and climaxing with a frantic sort of "dance" in the middle, unforgettable.

At one point a lovely high melody was played by 1st violin and cello at the same pitch, creating an unusual effect.

The other work on the programme, played after the intermission was Mendelssohn's String Quartet in F minor, which was also performed with restless drive. I did like the way they played.