Bartók String Quartet No. 3 (1927)

The stern visage of Béla Bartók graces the 2019 WWCMF poster. Now, one of his greatest works will bring the stirring imagery of the poster to life, the String Quartet No. 3 (1927).

Bartók was fond of using a compositional technique known as “night music.” Through episodes of “night music,” Bartók becomes free from harmonic constraints and can instead delve into a soundworld more evocative of sounds found in nature. Perhaps most poignantly, his Third Piano Concerto contains an episode of “night music” nestled between passages of the most ardent tenderness. In the Third Quartet, the episodes are somewhat more eerie and unsettling.

However, fear not! There is plenty of folk music to go around, and this quartet is virtuosic beyond measure. It is sure to thrill. And what better setting than the oaken tasting room of Rasa Vineyards?

I. Prima parte: Moderato

II. Seconda parte: Allegro

III. Recapitulazione della prima parte: Moderato

IV. Coda: Allegro molto

Artists: Girsky String Quartet: Natasha Bazhanov, violin; Timothy Christie, viola; Artur Girsky, violin; and Rowena Hammill, cello.