National Symphony’s Second Chamber Music Concert Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Shostakovich’s Passing

At IBK Chamber Hall, Seoul Arts Center, on October 26

The National Symphony Orchestra will present its second chamber music performance of the year on October 26 at the IBK Chamber Hall of the Seoul Arts Center, commemorating the 50th anniversary of Shostakovich's passing. This concert will highlight the humanism Shostakovich left behind, through works that reflect both the pain and joy of his era.

The program will open with Beethoven's Serenade for flute, violin, and viola. This piece, composed during Beethoven's youth, is characterized by its hopeful and playful spirit, featuring a diverse structure that includes dance movements and variations. Rather than dazzling virtuosity, the work expresses a playful world through restrained sonorities.

Two works by Shostakovich will follow. The Five Pieces for Two Violins and Piano, while adopting the humorous and light-hearted style of salon music and dance forms, are imbued with satire and irony. The bittersweet undertones that emerge behind the lively waltz and polka rhythms evoke the atmosphere of an era where laughter and tears coexisted.

The final piece, Piano Trio No. 2, is a work of mourning composed by Shostakovich after the loss of his friend Ivan Sollertinsky. Through restrained canons, an impassioned scherzo, and a mournful passacaglia, the piece expresses human sorrow in an ironic and grotesque tone. Notably, the Jewish folk melody in the last movement would later reappear in his String Quartet No. 8, serving both as a testament to the wounds of war and the times, and as a confession of humanism that clings to the will to live even in suffering.

Pianist Kim Dasol will perform as a guest artist.