Chameleon Arts Ensemble performs Shostakovich, Beethoven, Haas, Part

Resilience of the human spirit is the central theme for the Chameleon Arts Ensemble’s April program. Pavel Haas completed his third String Quartet in 1938 as Czechoslovakia was being annexed, three years before he was interned at the Terezín camp and later murdered at Auschwitz. His singular musical language carried forward the Czech traditions instilled in him by his teacher Janáček, with influences of Jewish and Moravian folksong, chant, and jazz. While at Terezín, he wrote: “Our will to create art has always been as strong as our will to survive.” We present this rare and important work alongside Beethoven’s Cello Sonata No. 5 in D major, Op. 102, No. 2; Arvo Pärt’s Spiegel im Spiegel for clarinet and piano; Guo Shang: Hymn to the Fallen by Shen Yiwen; and Shostakovich’s powerful declaration of defiance, sorrow, and silence, the Piano Trio No. 2 in e minor, Op. 67.