For the third time since their founding in 2019, the Isidore String Quartet visited San Antonio to perform for the San Antonio Chamber Music Society. The group says on their website, “We hope that sense of friendship, curiosity, and play comes through in the music.”
The program on Oct. 4 at Trinity Baptist Church was special for its two cellists; Clara Abel was making her performance debut with Isidore at this program, and for the mammoth Schubert “Quintet in C major,” the group was joined by 2019 Sphinx Competition winner, Sterling Elliott.
The group’s violist, Devin Moore, introduced each of the pieces on the program, noting the Haydn quartet they performed finds the composer “grappling with complex emotions.” Next, the group played music by Frank Bridge that opens in a somber mood, exploring what Moore said was the “much darker side of his compositional writing, to then give light to some of the other material.”
Finally, the group invited Sterling Ellott to the stage for Franz Schubert’s 50-minute long “Quintet in C major.” Moore described it as if “it's almost as if you're on a train, sort of experiencing life in a linear sense… it seems to be celebrating what it means to be alive, as opposed to looking forward at what death is going to be. It's such an incredible piece.”
PROGRAM:
- String Quartet in F minor Op. 20, No. 5 — Franz Joseph Haydn
- Three Idylls — Frank Bridge
- Quintet in C major, Op. 163, D. 956 — Franz Schubert
You can hear for yourself by listening to the concert audio using the player at the top of this page.
