Florida Keys Concert Association (FLKCA) continued its series with Jupiter String Quartet on Feb. 22. The concert was dedicated to the memory of Mike Forster, former Mayor of Islamorada, councilman, and most recently Monroe County commissioner. The concert was sponsored by Mangrove Mike’s Endeavors Paying Forward and The Rain Barrel Village.
The Jupiter String Quartet consists of two violins, viola and cello. It is a very intimate quartet by both the manner they play and their relationships to each other. Meg Freivogel plays violin and her elder sister, Liz Freivogel, plays viola. Daniel McDonough plays cello and is Meg’s husband. Nelson Lee plays first violin.
The Jupiter has received many honors, awards and grants during its 20-year career. The quartet’s name Jupiter was chosen because Jupiter was the most prominent planet in the night sky at the time of its formation, and because the astrological symbol for Jupiter resembles the number four as is the number of musicians.
Symbolically, the Jupiter started its concert with Haydn’s String Quartet No. 4. “Haydn is the ‘grandfather’ for quartet music,” McDonough said. Haydn wrote 68 string quartets, unmatched by any other composer.
The second piece, Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 3, was written right after World War II in 1946. Historically, the piece was presented as a “war quartet.” Shostakovich initially supported the idea of giving subtitles to each of the five movements: “Calm unawareness of the future cataclysm,”“Rumbling of unrest and anticipation,” “The forces of war are unleashed,” “Homage to the dead” and “The eternal question: why and to what purpose..”
“This piece was very personal to the composer,” McDonough said. “Nobody is truer to capture the spirituality of totalitarianism than Shostakovich. He slept with his toothbrush in his pocket, in case the composer had to flee. Shostakovich and his music were under Stalin’s surveillance.”
Not anticipating world events, but in timely fashion, the Jupiter played the piece when Russia invaded Ukraine.
“You could feel them breathe in one sync,” said Liz Shephard, a visitor and a retired music teacher.
“The music is exquisite. You feel the music with your own heartbeat. You could feel the battle, (as) if I would be in the battle myself,” said Marie DeLuca of Islamorada, a season ticket holder. “I’m glad that they (FLKCA) will have jazz next year. It is good to include other genres, mix it up, to attract more people.”
The Jupiter concluded its concert with Mendelssohn’s String Quartet No. 6. The piece was composed in 1847, two months before the composer’s death. Mendelssohn wrote the piece as an homage to his sister Fanny, who died that year.
