Serenata to play ‘Night Songs’ quartet
Esther “Etty” Hillesum wrote confessional letters and diaries describing her religious awakening as the Nazis persecuted the Jews of Amsterdam.
She died in Auschwitz in 1943.
On Saturday, April 6, Serenata of Santa Fe will perform Alexandra duBois’ String Quartet No. 3 “Night Songs,” her ode to the Dutch author, at First Presbyterian Church.
“She’s a creative force; she’s a composer and a violinist,” Serenata artistic director Pamela Epple said of the composer.
The Kronos Quartet commissioned the piece in 2006.
“It’s very tightly woven,” Epple said. “There’s density and texture.”
DuBois traced Hillesum’s journey from the Netherlands to Poland as part of her research after receiving grants from the Netherland-America Foundation and Indiana University. The quartet premiered at Stanford University.
“The piece conveys the complexity of human darkness in epic turmoil,” Epple said.
The concert will open on a chilly note with John Harbison’s “Snow Country” (1979) for oboe and string quintet.
“He’s composed for every combination imaginable, from
opera to orchestra, chamber music, solo work and even jazz,” Epple said.
Now living in Boston, Harbison spends part of his time near Madison, Wis.
“He has his ‘composing shack’ there,” Epple said.
“It’s just very spare and open-feeling, like white terrain,” she said of the quintet. “The oboe submerges and re-emerges like the ice in the long winter.”
The concert will close with Dvorak’s considerably warmer Quintet in G major, op. 77, for two violins, viola, cello and bass.
Also known as “My People,” the piece helped launch Dvorak’s career.
“It’s like everything Czech you can ever imagine,” Epple said. “It’s full of contrasts, very Slavic and vivacious. The double bass gives so much depth to this work. Even though it’s in E minor, it’s never dark and cloudy.”