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Exhibit Honors 100 Years of Pro Arte Quartet
Posted 10/13/2011
MADISON, Wis. – The Pro Arte Quartet turns 100 years old this year. The UW-Madison’s string quartet in residence is one of the oldest string quartets in existence.
The Pro Arte Quartet remains significant not only because of its distinguished history, but also for its meticulous and insightful performances of new compositions.
The roster of these compositions and composers is an astonishing list of the great, the neglected and the obscure. It begins in 1919 with the world premiere of Jongen’s Deux Serenades, written during the composer’s stay in London as a World War I refugee. It continues on with the famous, such as Ravel, Milhaud and Schoenberg; and the not so famous, including Rathaus, Howe and Perlongo. The newest additions to the list will be the 2011-2012 premieres of works by William Bolcom, John Harbison, Walter Mays and Paul Schoenfield. These free premiere performances, open to the public, include talks with the composer, lectures and receptions.
As a part of the 100th anniversary celebration, an exhibit in Memorial Library explores the Pro Arte Quartet’s relationship with new music through programs, reviews, letters and recordings. Special attention is given to:
Béla Bártok – String Quartet No. 4 (1928)
Samuel Barber – String Quartet in B minor, Op. 11 (1936)
(Adagio for Strings)
Roger Sessions – String Quartet No. 2 (1951)
Andrew Imbrie – String Quartet No. 4 (1969)
Gunther Schuller – Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra (1987).
Numerous CDs and LPs of the Pro Arte Quartet may be checked out from the Mills Music Library. Listen to nearly 75 years of recordings from 1931to 2005, from Schubert, Mozart and Beethoven, to Bartok, Sessions and Fennely.
For those in the UW-Madison community, streamed audio of 10 recorded performances are available through DRAM and the Naxos Music Library.
The anniversary celebration continues throughout the 2011–2012 year, with additional exhibits highlighting various aspects of the quartet’s history. The exhibits are a part of a larger campus celebration for the 100 years of the Pro Arte Quartet. See the Pro Arte Quartet website for a full calendar of events and information about the anniversary celebration. A recent article in the Wisconsin State Journal describes the odd circumstances which led to the beginning of the Quartet's residency at UW–Madison: Hitler's 1940 invasion of Belgium.
