In Lamento, Ragazze reflects on the different ways in which people commemorate their deceased with music, in different times. From Gesualdo (late Renaissance), via Purcell’s famous Dido’s Lament (Baroque) to Romanticism with Mendelssohn’s string quartet op. 80. He dedicated this work to his suddenly deceased sister Fanny; he wrote it just two months before his own death.
These works are combined with Elegy in Me, a new string quartet that Seung-Won Oh composed for Ragazze Quartet (2023). Oh’s affinity with traditional Korean music and customs is strongly reflected in her contemporary musical idiom and performance practice. The genre of the string quartet, rooted in the Western tradition, is thus further opened up to new sounds and approaches.
Lamento will premiere at the String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam in January 2024 and will then play in Amersfoort, Roermond and a tour to Sweden.