In memoriam

This evening, the Schumann Quartet commemorates the victims of World War II. The Third string quartet, composed by the Jewish pianist Ruth Schönthal, is dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust. Erwin Schulhoff died in 1941 in the Wülzburg prison. Henriëtte Bosmans was Jewish through her mother. After the Nazis banned her from performing, she gave concerts in secret. Pièce de résistance is Samuel Barber’s First string quartet, with its famous, deeply moving Adagio.

Barber arranged the Adagio for string orchestra and it became a recurring ritual at important commemorations. The work was played at the funerals of people like J.F. Kennedy, Albert Einstein and Grace Kelly. When conductor Arturo Toscanini heard the Adagio for the first time, he promptly included this work by the young Barber into his touring repertoire. The Schumann Quartet has performed at the Muziekgebouw in 2019 and at the 2022 String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam.