Chosta

A while ago, I did a sketch with/for/to Shostakovich's string quartet nº 8, available here: http://vimeo.com/51953896
That's when my friend Jean René, an exceptional viola player and composer (we have done several pieces together: http://vimeo.com/44883062 and http://vimeo.com/43402313) told me he was about to perform that very piece with a group of musicians forming a string quartet concentrating on concerts, not recordings. He never-the-less offered to record one of their performances and give it to me, providing the other members of the quartet would agree (after listening to the recording).
They did (am very grateful to them), enabling me to rework my original sketch and tailor it to their magnificent interpretation (it is fascinating to have the opportunity to "listen with one's eyes" to different interpretations of the "same" music, especially if the music is as magnificent as this one).

There is a real and powerful emotion that carries through this music, and it was made very palpable by this recording.

Musicians are:
violins: Geneviève Beaudry and Céline Arcand
viola: Jean René
cello: Vincent Bernard

The recording was done during a performance presented at Bandeen Hall, Bishop's University, Sherbrooke (Quebec) on January 18, 2013 (in the context of a course on the history of music).

As for the "Chosta" title, in French, Shostakovich is spelled "Chostakovitch."
When Jean René and I started corresponding about this project, we used the abbreviated name "Chosta" as the subject line of our emails and that felt just right for the title (my first version, done with/for/to the Hagen Quartet's recording, was called "DSCH").