Tempera Quartet - Pehr Henrik Nordgren: The Last Quartets (SACD)

Pehr Henrik Nordgren (1944-2008)

The Last Quartets

Tempera Quartet

Laura Vikman violin

Silva Koskela violin

Tiila Kangas viola

Ulla Lampela cello

A Great Composer’s Legacy to Future Generations

The new release The Last Quartets features composer Pehr Henrik Nordgren’s final string quartets: String Quartet No. 10, Op. 142 (2007) and String Quartet No. 11, Op. 144 (2008), in brilliant performances by the Tempera Quartet.

String Quartet No. 10 received its world premiere at the Kaustinen Chamber Music Week in January 2008 and is dedicated to the Tempera Quartet. The quartet is, as it were, a final tribute to Shostakovich. The performance markings for the first three movements of the quartet are the same as in Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 2, as the composer himself noted. In the Passacaglia movement, Nordgren formed the main theme of the basic melody from the letter combination E-H-H-E found in his own name. This approach was also characteristic of Shostakovich.

String Quartet No. 11 is also dedicated to the Tempera Quartet and was premiered at the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival on July 25, 2008. That concert turned out to be the last for the composer, who was only 64 years old. Pehr Henrik Nordgren died on August 25, 2008, and was buried in Kaustinen. Nordgren on the final movement of his 11th quartet: The final movement, Postludio (Pietoso), is a short epilogue, marked in the score as ‘merciful,’ ‘compassionate.’ Here I thought of a harmonious conclusion to life. Mercy is granted to the pitiful.

Since the ensemble’s founding in 1997, the members of Tempera have been united by a love of chamber music and a desire to develop the string quartet as an instrument over the long term. The ensemble was selected as the Finland Festivals Young Artist of the Year in 2001. Tempera has premiered numerous works, and Pehr Henrik Nordgren and Paavo Korpijaakko have dedicated compositions to the group. Laura Vikman is the third concertmaster of the Radio Symphony Orchestra and teaches violin at the Sibelius Academy. Silva Koskela serves as a lecturer in violin at the Tampere Conservatory. Tiila Kangas works with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and is the artistic director of the Åland-based Katrina Chamber Music Festival. Ulla Lampela works as a freelance cellist in the Helsinki area and teaches cello at the East Helsinki Music School.

FORMAT: SACD