QUARTET AMABILE — String Quartets by Haydn, Brahms, Shostakovich, and Fujikura

In the Quartet Amabile’s program, three classic string quartets from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries frame a recent work: Dai Fujikura composed Aquarius in 2020 for the young Japanese ensemble, which makes its third Pierre Boulez Saal appearance this season. “I wanted to write a piece that freely changes form without having a discernible feeling of sections,” the composer says. “The sound of a group of strings has a particular elasticity, and to me this is the only combination of instruments that allows you to continually shift one shape into another.”