Arete Quartet on Their Debut Album: "Janacek and Suk Define Our Identity"

Leos Janacek (1854-1928) and Josef Suk (1874-1935) are the Czech composers chosen by the string quartet Arete Quartet (violinists Cheaan Jeon and Eunjoong Park, violist Yunseon Jang, and cellist Sunghyun Park) for their first album, recorded six years after their debut. Unlike the widely renowned Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, the most commonly cited representatives of Czech music are Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904) and Bedrich Smetana (1824-1884).

At a press conference held on November 24 at Sounds S in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Sunghyun Park said, "There are already many exemplary albums of Mozart and Beethoven. Although we approached this carefully, we believed our debut album should reflect our identity, and that an album of Janacek and Suk could serve that purpose."

From the left, violin Park Eunjoong, viola Jang Yunseon, violin Jeon Chaean, cello Park Sunghyun
[Photo by Mok Production]

The album features three pieces. Janacek left two string quartets, both of which-No. 1 "Kreutzer Sonata" and No. 2 "Intimate Letters"-were recorded, along with Suk's "Meditation on the Old Czech Chorale 'St. Wenceslas.'"

Among these, the Kreutzer Sonata is especially significant as it forms the foundation of Arete Quartet's identity today.

Founded in September 2019, Arete Quartet became the first Korean ensemble to win the string quartet division at the Prague Spring International Music Competition in 2021, sweeping all five special prizes, including the Jury Prize and Audience Prize. That year, the jury did not select a second place, instead awarding joint third place to two teams, indicating that Arete Quartet was the overwhelming first-place winner. The piece they performed in the finals was the Kreutzer Sonata.

Cheaan Jeon recalled, "I remember practicing eight hours a day to prepare for the competition."

Sunghyun Park added, "The judges at the Prague Spring Competition commented that our interpretation of Janacek's work was very fresh and convincing, which made us realize our strength in Janacek's repertoire."

He continued, "Janacek's pieces are highly dramatic. Especially in the second quartet, techniques such as 'sul ponti' (short for sul ponticello, where the bow is drawn near the bridge to create a thin, metallic sound) and 'pizzicato' (plucking the strings with fingers instead of using the bow) are used, resulting in many unique sound effects." He added, "The second quartet is actually more about love than secrecy. Whenever recording became difficult, I wondered what Janacek must have wanted to express to leave such an intense love in his music."

Eunjoong Park said, "Suk is also one of the leading Czech composers. We decided to record 'Meditation on the Old Czech Chorale 'St. Wenceslas'' because it felt too precious to keep to ourselves." He added, "It is regarded as the piece that best captures the spirit of Czech nationalism and was even considered as a candidate for the Czech national anthem, which is fascinating."

Sunghyun Park commented, "Czech music has a very strong national character. Since our country also has a strong sense of national identity, I often feel a subtle sense of kinship when listening to Czech pieces."

Arete Quartet 'Janacek & Suk' Album Cover [Photo by Mok Production]

Arete Quartet's debut album, "Janacek & Suk," was released worldwide online on November 19 through Platoon, a subsidiary of Apple. Platoon has previously distributed only digital music, but with this Arete Quartet debut, it plans to distribute its first physical album.

Since their win at the Mozart Spring Competition in 2021, Arete Quartet has dominated numerous competitions, earning the title "kings of competitions."

In 2023, they won first prize and the Best Interpretation of Mozart String Quartet at the Mozart International Competition, and in 2024, they became the first Korean ensemble to win first prize and sweep five special awards at the Lyon International Chamber Music Competition. Last year, they also won the domestic Art Sylvia Chamber Music Competition. This year, they became the first Korean group to reach the finals and win second prize at the Banff International String Quartet Competition, and achieved third place at the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition, another first for a Korean quartet.

Sunghyun Park explained, "We needed to check where we stood and whether we were doing well, and competitions were always the way to do that. But now, we feel we are moving into a new chapter, which is why we recorded this album."

Arete Quartet has been on a nationwide tour to celebrate the album release since November 7. They have performed in Daejeon and Gimhae, and upcoming concerts are scheduled for November 29 at the IBK Chamber Hall at Seoul Arts Center and December 6 at Tongyeong Concert Hall.

Regarding plans for next year, Sunghyun Park said they would continue performing Janacek and Suk, and also hope to commemorate the 170th anniversary of Schumann's death. He said, "We are very fond of Schumann, and since next year marks the 170th anniversary of his death, we hope to have an opportunity to honor him."