To Be, or Not to Be...

Dmitri N. Smirnov: to be, or not to be... for violin, viola, cello & piano, Op. 195, 2018/19, 12' "to be, or not to be..." is a concert piece, about 12 minutes long, for piano quartet. The idea of the composition is to represent by purely musical means the famous soliloquy of Hamlet, prince of Denmark, from the great Shakespearean tragedy of the same name. The whole text of the monologue, transformed into melodic phrases and put into the part of the viola, is accompanied by the other instruments of the quartet. The text itself is added to the score not for recitation, but in order to help the performers correctly understand and convey to the listener the meaning of the music. The work is written for the piano quartet named "Rudersdal Chamber Players" that includes Christine Pryn, violin, Mina Fred, viola, John Ehde, cello and Manuel Esperilla, piano. The premiere is programmed for 18 August 2019 at the Rudersdal Sommerkoncerter in Denmark. The project is kindly supported by a private sponsor Simon Rayner from Newcastle under Lyme, England.