Pavel Haas Quartet slated for Gardner Hall concert

The Pavel Haas Quartet will be coming to Libby Gardner Concert Hall this Wednesday as part of the Chamber Music Society of Salt Lake City's current roster of guest ensembles.

Since winning Italy's Paolo Borciani Competition in 2005, the foursome has played in some of the world's foremost halls. This season, the group will make its debut at the Lucerne Festival and the Frick Collection in New York, as well as in Berlin's Konzerthaus.

The Prague-based ensemble, which takes its name from Czech composer Pavel Haas, will play a far-ranging program for its Salt Lake concert consisting of Benjamin Britten's Three Divertimenti; Ludwig van Beethoven's Quartet in F major, Op. 59, No. 1; and Haas' Quartet No. 2, Op. 7.

Not well known outside his native country, Haas lived from 1899 to 1944. He wrote a fairly small body of works that includes three string quartets. Folk and jazz elements are evident in his music, as well as stylistic traits from Leos Janacek.

A victim of the Holocaust, Haas was imprisoned by the Germans in 1941 and taken to a concentration camp in Theresienstadt, where several other Czech artists were incarcerated, including Viktor Ullmann.

Three years later, Haas was moved to Auschwitz, where he died. His three quartets are an integral part of the ensemble's repertoire.

e-mail: ereichel@desnews.com

If you go...

What: Pavel Haas Quartet

Where: Libby Gardner Concert Hall, University of Utah

When: Nov. 10, 7:30 p.m.

How much: $25 general admission, $5 students

Phone: 801-561-3999

Web: cmsofslc.org