Streichquartett Nr. 2

I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincerest gratitude to Eamonn Quinn, Artistic Director of Louth Contemporary Music Society in Ireland, for his deep empathy, appreciation and great interest in my music and performance activity. I was repeatedly asked by Eamonn Quinn if I would consider writing a new string quartet for the 'Kronos Quartet' as he knew Kronos had asked me on a previous occasion about a commission. I would like to point out, that I consider it a great honour for a contemporary composer to receive a commission from such renowned quartet as 'Kronos'.

However at that time I was involved in writing some other works and also as a matter of principal I rarely accept commissions. But it so happened that when I visited Ireland and was introduced to Eamonn Quinn, a remarkable musician and a great and heartful person – his request to write this work for Kronos acted as an additional impulse and motivation to bring the new piece to life. I believe there is some Irish accent and naive melodies to permeate the whole work that may sound as symbols of this wonderful country in which destiny and historical legacy I perceive a close spiritual affinity to Ukraine, my homeland. Valentin SilvestrovThe work draws its tension from two extremes which alternate either abruptly or by flowing into one another – a rough, atonal, expressionist tonal language on the one hand, and a diatonic, nostalgic and surrealist elegy, on the other.