Concert I - In Love and Light

Concert I: In Love and Light

W. A. Mozart’s striking Adagio and Fugue in C minor, K. 546, finished on the same day as his great Symphony 39, opens the program with gravity and an almost unearthly soundscape. Originally conceived for the piano, the counterpoint of this work is elevated and expanded through the voices of the string quartet. Though the reason for its composition is unclear, the fact that he chose to write it in the midst of penning his final three symphonies may point to a heightened sense of Mozart’s urgency in getting his music out. 

Composed in the countryside of Spillville, Iowa, Antonín Dvořák’s String Quartet No. 12 “American” is a portrait of the composer’s time in the American countryside. This work is very pure, reflecting the simplicity of both American folk music and that of his Czech homeland. In Dvorak’s own words, “I wanted to…