Quatuor Alfama

​Program of 70 minute

HAYDN
Quatuor à cordes, op. 77 n°1

DEVREESE
Trois waltzes

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TURINA
La oracion del torero, op. 34 

DVORAK
String Quartet No.12 in F "American", op. 96

What could be more pleasant than to travel in a group...  We are 4, and form a string quartet composed of two violins, a viola and a cello. And it is with you that we will escape: From Belgium, our point of departure, the three waltzes of Frédéric Devreese almost transport us into a film. Then we go down to Vienna, where Joseph Haydn wrote the largest repertoire for our group (68 quartets). We choose one of his last string quartets, opus 77 n°1. 

A diversion to the South with the "Oracion del torero" then takes us to Spain. This little 8-minute gem composed by Joaquin Turina in 1925 was inspired by the vision of the bullfighter praying in a chapel next to the bullring. 

Finally, the sometimes joyful, often deep and melancholic Slavic consonances of Antonin Dvorak's Quartet No. 12, known as "American", spill over the Atlantic. It was in Iowa that the Czech-born composer wrote one of the most famous works in the string quartet repertoire during his holidays in less than two weeks. 

Something to dream about for a while longer, beyond all borders.