Alexander String Quartet
2008-2009 Repertory


NOTES:
1. On a case-by-case basis, presenters may draw on the repertory below to customize programs.
2. All programs, including those here, must be approved through BesenArts before being considered confirmed.
3. Programs as of June 25, 2007, subject to change.

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Program A — Titans of the String Quartet: Beethoven & Shostakovich
The Alexander String Quartet continues its acclaimed performances of the Shostakovich quartets (Foghorn Classics, 2006-7) as it returns to the Beethoven cycle (Foghorn Classics releases beginning 2009).  These programs explore two of great masters of the form in thoughtful juxtapositions.

Option 1
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 6 in B-flat major, Op. 18, No. 6 (1798-1800)
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135 (1826)
Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 3 in F major, Op. 73 (1946)

Option 2
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 2 in G major, Op. 18, No. 2 (1798-1800)
Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 4 in D major, Op. 83 (1946)
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 8 in E minor, Op. 59, No. 2 (1806)

Option 3: “Late Quartets”
Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 15 in E-flat minor, Op. 144 (1974)
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132 (1825)

Option 4: “Fugue”
Shostakovich-Grafilo: Prelude & Fugue No. 15 in D-flat major, Op. 87 (1951)
Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 9 in E-flat major, Op. 119 (1964)
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 131 (1826)

Program B — Nouveau Siecle:  The String Quartet in the First Decade of the 20th Century
This program explores the kaleidoscope of compositional style at the outset of the last century.
Webern: Langsamer Satz (1905)
Webern: Five Pieces for String Quartet, Op. 5 (1909)
Bartók: String Quartet No. 1, Sz. 40 (1908)
Ravel: String Quartet in F major (1902-03)

Program C — Viennese Masters
Mozart: String Quartet in B-flat major, K. 458 “Hunt” (1784)
Webern: Langsamer Satz (1905) — AND — Webern: Five Pieces for String Quartet, Op. 5 (1909)
— OR — Beethoven: String Quartet No. 11 in F minor, Op. 95 “Serioso” (1810)
Brahms: String Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 51, No. 1 (1873)

Program D — World War II Commemorative
The Alexander String Quartet, founded in 1981, looks back on its first quarter century with a return to repertory of this moving and thought-provoking program.
Haydn: String Quartet in C major, Op. 76, No. 3 “Emperor” (1797)
Bartók: String Quartet No. 6, Sz. 114 (1939)
Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 2 in A major, Op. 68 (1944)

Program E — Postcards from San Francisco to Vienna
The Alexander String Quartet relocated from New York to San Francisco in 1991, and since then has focused its new-music performances on California composers.

1st half — Choose any two works of these by composers from the San Francisco Bay Area:
John Adams: John’s Book of Alleged Dances, selections (1994)
Lou Harrison: Quartet Set (1979)
Wayne Peterson: Jazz Play (1991)
Terry Riley: Mythic Birds Waltz (1983)

2nd half — Choose one work:
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 131 (1826)
Brahms: String Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 51, No. 1 (1873)