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adapted from the press release by Ben Hogwood<\/strong><\/p>\n TERRA MEMORIA<\/em><\/strong> \u201cI feel when writing for a string quartet that I\u2019m entering into the intimate\u00a0core of musical communication.<\/em>\u201d Following two highly acclaimed composer-led volumes of Tchaikovsky\u2019s string quartets last year, Dudok Quartet<\/strong> Amsterdam returns to another of its signature concept albums with a mix of thought-provoking repertoire.\u00a0\u00a0Terra Memoria\u00a0<\/em>is the Quartet\u2019s sixth album on the Rubicon Classics label and features Shostakovich<\/strong>\u2019s third string quartet, from 1946, paired with Kaija Saariaho<\/strong>\u2019s second String Quartet\u00a0Terra Memori<\/em>a from 2007. It is something of a partner to their 2022 album,\u00a0Reflections<\/em>, which paired Shostakovich\u2019s String Quartet No 5 Op 92 with Gra\u017cyna Bacewicz\u2019s String Quartet No 4and also featured other of the Quartet\u2019s transcriptions of\u00a0Shostakovich\u2019s Preludes Op 34. \u201cWe aim to show that music affects people; that music can lead us to profundity and connection\u00a0especially when it provokes friction. The true meaning of music reveals itself in a shared experience\u00a0in which you, as a listener, play a vital role.<\/em>\u201d Published post no.2,668 \u2013 Thursday 25 September 2025<\/em><\/p>\n \t\t\t<\/div>\n
Kaija Saariaho String Quartet
Shostakovich String Quartet No 3 in F, Op. 73
plus a selection from 24 Preludes Op 34
Rubicon Classics RCD1218\u00a0 Release date: 31 October 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n
Kaija Saariaho\u00a0<\/p>\n
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As a result of the Dudok Quartet\u2019s inimitable and deeply inquisitive approach to understanding and expressing what they discover in these scores, they find that although Shostakovich and Saariaho are very different in their compositional approach, the outcome is similar; both possess unmistakeable musical signatures which empower their communication of imagination and emotion to performers and listeners alike.
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Initially, Shostakovich gave titles to the five movements of his quartet No. 3, referencing a range of feelings and responses to the threat and ultimately the destruction and desolation of war.\u00a0 If these titles intended any kind of narrative or explanation, the composer gave no reason for soon withdrawing them and, as Dudok violinist Judith van Driel explains, the force of the music cancels out any need for words; \u201cPlaying or listening to the third movement\u00a0<\/em>[for example]\u00a0gives an infinitely more accurate meaning, by making adrenaline rush through your body causing your ears to ring from an unrelenting pounding. Its meaning is manifest in your sense of terror, fear and anger, whether or not you have ever experienced war up close<\/em>.\u201d
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Throughout the quartet Shostakovich uses various compositional techniques to provoke immediate and reactive personal responses that are sometimes ambiguous and sometimes at odds \u2013 yet co-existing with each other. From the pastoral opening to the meandering melody searching for meaning in the fifth movement, it is the music that elicits inexplicable \u2013 in the most literal sense \u2013 and instinctive feelings.
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Saariaho expressed a love for the richness and sensitivity of the string quartet sound, although she only composed two works in the genre. The second,\u00a0Terra Memoria,\u00a0<\/em>captivated the Dudoks from the outset when they worked on it with her in 2011 (they were enchanted further by her music when they \u00a0collaborated in the world premiere of her penultimate opera,\u00a0Only the Sound Remains,\u00a0<\/em>in 2016). Saariaho references the work as being \u2018for those departed\u2019, those whose lives are over, with nothing to be added, while those left behind are haunted by dreams and memories and find that the shape of remembrance can change as time passes.
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But this explanation is only a starting point for the listener or player to make personal associations through experience of the composer\u2019s sound world. Familiarising itself with her unique musical vocabulary was an absorbing and rewarding journey for the Dudok Quartet as they encountered a variety of unusual playing techniques and inventive musical mutations that include experimental threads of electronic music, minimalist-type repetition and operatic styles. For them, Saariaho\u2019s music evokes a kind of intermediate zone between the known and the unknown, the living and the dead.
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The Dudok Quartet is also known for its own transcriptions of works not originally composed for string quartet and rounds off the album with a selection from Shostakovich\u2019s\u00a0Preludes<\/em>\u00a0Op. 34\u00a0<\/em>written for piano, all of them tiny gems which elicit personal stories and associations in the listener and player.<\/p>\n
Dudok Quartet Amsterdam
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The Dudok regularly performs in the UK and will feature Saariaho\u2019s\u00a0Terra Memoria<\/em>\u00a0in recital with Schubert\u2019s\u00a0Death and the Maiden<\/em>\u00a0in Portsmouth, Sheffield, Macclesfield and Hastings in November 2025, and Shostakovich\u2019s String Quartet No 3 on tour in early 2026 \u2013 to the US in January and Scotland in February. Click here for further information<\/a><\/strong>.
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Terra Memoria<\/em><\/strong>
Dudok Quartet Amsterdam\u00a0
Rubicon Classics RCD1218\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: 31 October 2025
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Dmitri Shostakovich \u2013 String Quartet No. 3 in F, Op. 73 (1946)<\/strong>
I. Allegretto
II. Moderato con moto
III. Allegro non troppo
IV. Adagio (attacca)
V. Moderato
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Kaija Saariaho \u2013 Terra Memoria (2007) for String Quartet<\/strong>
Shostakovich \u2013 24 Preludes, Op. 34<\/strong>
No. 1 in C major \u2013 Moderato
No. 2 in A minor \u2013 Allegretto
No. 4 in E minor \u2013 Moderato
No. 6 in B minor \u2013 Allegretto
No. 12 in G sharp minor \u2013 Allegro non troppo
No. 22 in G minor \u2013 Adagio
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DUDOK QUARTET AMSTERDAM\u00a0<\/strong>
dudokquartet.com<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n