Vita Oscura: The Personal Meets the Political

What happens when global events turn our lives upside down? How do these events intersect with our personal lives, often revealing something fundamental about ourselves? Conversely how can something deeply personal become a globally recognized statement of human expression? Circadian String Quartet examines these questions with string quartets by Dmitri Shostakovich, Davide Verrota, and Anton Webern. Two of these quartets respond in a very personal way to world events.  Shostakovich’s blistering masterpiece, String Quartet No. 8 is a cathartic and harrowing response to the bombing of Dresden, World War II, and other repressive political forces that hit close to home. Vita Oscura, a brand new commissioned work written especially for Circadian String Quartet by Davide Verotta, charts an emotional response to our present day pandemic upheavals in which rosy future projections must give way to fragile and groping reevaluations. Capping it all off is Anton Webern’s Langsamer Satz, written in 1905 as an expression of the outpouring of love and rapture he felt as he hiked with the woman who would later become his wife. This intimate work, full of longing and tenderness, becomes a universal reminder of our common humanity.

• Dimtri Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 8 (1960) In Memory of the Victims of Fascism and War
• Davide Verotta: String Quartet No. 8 (2020-2021) Written especially for the Circadian String Quartet
• Anton Webern: Langsamer Satz (1905)