Chiaroscuro for String Quartet (Score & parts)

Description

Commissioned by I Teatri in Reggio Emilia for the 9th International String Quartet Competition "Premio Paolo Borciani", Reggio Emilia (12-19 June 2011) The string quartet with the picturesque name "Chiaroscuro" by Giya Kancheli was commissioned by the 9th International String Quartet Competition "Premio Paolo Borciani" 2011, at which the Georgian composer was on the jury. The term is borrowed from the field of art history. Here "chiaroscuro" refers to a painting technique developed in the Renaissance and early Baroque which is specifically concerned with contrasts between bright and dark. Rembrandt, for example, was an early master of this technique. In some of his paintings, sections of faces represented are so darkened that one can hardly recognise the features.