A REVERENCE FOR VICTIMS OF REVOLUTION Plays Town Hall Theater

As the world seems to convulse with revolution, an exceptional new quartet from Burlington will play an evening of music inspired by the courage and suffering of those who die for their ideals.

The Burlington Ensemble will present "A Reverence for Victims of Revolution" on Saturday, March 16.

The central work of the evening is Henryk Gorecki's meditation on war, the String Quartet No. 3, "songs are sung..." Commissioned by the Kronos Quartet, it is one of the keystones of the Polish composer's brilliant career.

In 1992, 15 years after it was composed, a recording of Gorecki's Third Symphony, Symphony of Sorrowful Songs-recorded with soprano Dawn Upshaw and released to commemorate the memory of those lost during the Holocaust-became a worldwide commercial and critical success. As surprised as anyone at its popularity, Górecki said, "Perhaps people find something they need in this piece of music. Somehow I hit the right note, something they were missing. Something somewhere had been lost to them. I feel that I instinctively knew what they needed." The String
Quartet No. 3 shares the symphony's haunting, at time minimalist style, and its deep feeling of compassion.

The Burlington Ensemble includes Sofia Hirsch (violin), Michael Dabroski (violin), Stefanie Taylor (viola) and John Dunlop (cello). The concert is Saturday, March 26, at 8 pm at Middlebury's Town Hall Theater. Tickets are $17, and may be purchased at www.townhalltheater.org, 802 382-9222, at the THT Box Office (Mon-Sat, Noon - 5 pm) or at the door.