SITE: The Long View Center, 118 S. Person Street   Map 

PROGRAM

• Witold Lutoslawski: Dance Preludes
• Robert Ward: Raleigh Diverimento (arranged for the Czech Nonet by Scott Tilley)
• Josef Foerster: Nonet, Op. 147 (1931)
• Louis Spohr: Grand Nonetto in F Major, Op. 31

   - The Guild is pleased to offer four ways to purchase tickets:
   - by mail, by phone, at the door, or online.   Ticket Info 

About the Czech Nonet

The Czech Nonet is one of the longest continuously performing chamber ensembles in the world. Founded in 1924, the Czech Nonet has been a significant artist on the world chamber music stage for several generations. It has rigorously survived the travails of WWII, the communist occupation of the former Czechoslovakia, the Cold War, and the transition back to the democratic Czech Republic beginning in 1989. This "survivability" is a nearly unparalleled achievement in the history of chamber music. In April 2002, the Czech Nonet made its first return tour of the United States in nearly 25 years.

The ensemble formed in late 1923 at the Prague Conservatory and solidified its name and instrumentation in 1924. It has since become a featured guest of leading international festivals and venues. And, of necessity, it became an ardent champion of the music of our time. More than 300 works by eminent composers including Prokofiev, Lutoslawski and Martinu have been written for this distinguished ensemble. The ensemble continues this tradition to this day with recent additions to its repertoire by American Pulitzer prize-winning composer Robert Ward (Raleigh Divertimento for Nonet) and a forthcoming work from native Czech (and naturalized American) composer Karel Husa. These works mark the first compositions for the ensemble by American composers.

The ensemble's instrumentation is based on Spohr's Grand Nonetto, Op. 31 (written 170 years ago): violin, viola, cello, contrabass, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and horn. The single-voicing of such a wide range of instruments offers a truly broad harmonic and acoustical texture which has, undoubtedly, served the Czech Nonet's longevity and singular appeal. It remains the only ensemble of its type consistently performing and touring for the past 80 years.