SSO CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES 1: Reflections of Peace
REFLECTIONS OF PEACE – Nov 11
A thoughtful program of music inspired by and reflective of war, displacement, tyranny, revolution, fascism, and resistance. This music for string quartet, guitar, and digital sound is moving and contemplative to stir the humanity in all of us this Remembrance Day.
Featuring Canadian Composer John Oliver’s On Freedom
Michael Daugherty Bay of Pigs
Dmitri Shostakovich String Quartet 8
Michael Daugherty Bay of Pigs: String Quartet with guitar (17 min)
The composer Michael Daugherty says:
“Bay of Pigs is a three-movement elegy for Cuba, past and present. In the first movement, “havana dreams,” I have composed bittersweet, brooding music for Cuba before the revolution, as remembered by Cuban exiles around the world. Fidel Castro (b. 1926), who commanded the revolution in 1959, has been dictator of Cuba since that time. The second movement, entitled “water fall,” evokes the turbulent seas surrounding Cuba. Here thousands of refugees have fled by boat and battles have been won and lost, including the failed 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion by Cuban exiles. The ominous and angry rhythms of the final movement, “anthem,” echo the revolutionary chanting of Fidel Castro and the guerilla ghost of his communist ally, Che Guevara.”
Shostakovich string quartet No. 8 is dedicated to the victims of facism and war.
“The Borodin String Quartet played this work to the composer at his Moscow home , hoping for his criticisms. But Shostakovich, overwhelmed by this beautiful realization of his most personal feelings, buried his head in his hands and wept. When they had finished playing,the four musicians quietly packed up their instruments and stole out of the room.”
On Freedom: violin, guitar and digital sound (16 min) by Canadian composer John Oliver and commissioned by CBC Radio 2.
The composer John Oliver says:
Since President Johnson’s invasion of South-east Asia without a declaration of war, the hope for a peaceful future that was expressed in the founding of the United Nations has been betrayed again and again by governments of the United States of America acting in their own interest as policeman to the world. Resistance by Americans to the wars of their government requires tremendous fortitude.
This music is dedicated to them: to their idealism, to their sacrifice, and to their courage. The work is dedicated to Alan Rinehart, who provided the interview about his coming to Canada to avoid the draft
