The Valley Concert Society looks forward to welcoming the Butter Quartet to the stage of the Matsqui Centennial Auditorium on Friday, November 8, at 7:30 p.m.
The ensemble will present a beautifully crafted program entitled Well Met By Moonlight. While it includes pieces by Schubert and Haydn, it features prominently some of the most beloved works of Felix Mendelssohn.
The evening will end with Mendelssohn’s String Quartet No. 2. Felix composed it in 1827 when he was just eighteen years old and in the throes of love. He wrote a very short song entitled Frage (Question) with these words:
Is it true that you always wait for me in the leafy path by the grape arbor
And ask the moonlight and the little stars about me?
Is it true? Speak.
What I feel can only be understood by someone who feels it with me
And who will stay forever true to me.
The music from that little song can be found in bits and pieces throughout this string quartet, especially the three note pattern of the words: Is it true?
We do not know who the young Felix was hoping to meet by moonlight near the grape arbor, but he poured his feelings into this evocative piece of music.
The Butter Quartet found their magic as an ensemble when they met at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague.
Cellist Evan Buttar hails from Vancouver, BC. He studied cello at the University of Ottawa and then travelled to the Netherlands to pursue an interest in historically informed performance. There he earned two masters degrees, one in cello and the other in viola da gamba, an early version of the cello.
Evan has performed with various orchestras and ensembles around Europe. He plays on an instrument that was made some time around 1745 and is on loan to him from the Dutch Musical Instruments Foundation.
Tickets for this program are available online at www.valleyconcertsociety.com at $32 for adults/seniors and $20 for students. For more information, call 604-289-3377.
John Wiebe - President
The Valley Concert Society