ORAWA Orava Quartet

• Erwin Schulhoff (1894 - 1942): String Quartet No. 1:
• 1Schulhoff: String Quartet No. 1: I. Presto con fuoco02:20
• 2Schulhoff: String Quartet No. 1: II. Allegro con moto04:23
• 3Schulhoff: String Quartet No. 1: III. Allegro giocoso alla slovacca02:56
• 4Schulhoff: String Quartet No. 1: IV. Andante molto sostenuto06:41
• 5 Pieces for String Quartet:
• 5Schulhoff: 5 Pieces for String Quartet: No. 1, Alla valse viennese01:56
• 6Schulhoff: 5 Pieces for String Quartet: No. 2, Alla serenate02:59
• 7Schulhoff: 5 Pieces for String Quartet: No. 3, Alla czeca01:34
• 8Schulhoff: 5 Pieces for String Quartet: No. 4, Alla tango milonga03:49
• 9Schulhoff: 5 Pieces for String Quartet: No. 5, Alla tarantella02:40
• Wojciech Kilar (1932 - 2013): Orawa:
• 10Kilar: Orawa09:12
• Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 - 1975): String Quartet No. 6 in G Major, Op. 101:
• 11Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 6 in G Major, Op. 101: I. Allegro07:16
• 12Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 6 in G Major, Op. 101: II. Moderato con moto06:05
• 13Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 6 in G Major, Op. 101: III. Lento05:37
• 14Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 6 in G Major, Op. 101: IV. Allegretto07:56
• Luke Howard (b. 1978):
• 15Howard: Hymn04:39
• 16Howard: Schlusshymne03:09
• 17Howard: You Are Not Lost, You Are Here03:56
• 18Howard: Andamooka Station02:26
• Total Runtime01:19:34

Info for ORAWA

Following the release of its critically acclaimed debut album on Deutsche Grammophon (Australia) in 2018, the Brisbane-based Orava Quartet is set to release its second album on the famed label. Consisting of members Daniel Kowalik, David Dalseno (violins), Thomas Chawner (viola), and Karol Kowalik (cello), the second album is titled Orawa, and is a personal tribute to the group’s late mentor Uzi Wiesel.

The title of the new album is named after a work by Polish composer Wojciech Kilar (1932-2013), which appears on this album, and was introduced to brothers Daniel and Karol Kowalik by their father during their childhood, becoming such an intrinsic part of their formative years that it inspired the quartet’s name.

Also on this album is Dmitri Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 6 in G major, Op. 101, which was one of the first works the Oravas performed as an ensemble back in 2006, under the careful guidance of their late teacher Wiesel. This quartet complements their performance of Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110, which appeared on their first album and was reviewed as ‘hair-raising’ by The Daily Telegraph.

Two works by Czech composer Erwin Schulhoff (1894-1942) continues the Eastern European flavour, featuring his String Quartet No 1 and Five Pieces for String Quartet – both written in the tumultuous post-War haze of Europe in the 1920s. Fast-forwarding to a century later, the album is rounded out with four works by Melbourne-based composer Luke Howard (b. 1978), whose search for serenity and solace in his works are evident throughout.

Accompanying the set are beautifully-written notes by Phillip Sametz, tracing the journey of the music, from the greatly gifted Schulhoff who met his end in a Nazi concentration camp, to the reflective works of Howard, whose work ‘Schlusshymne’ presents a luminous, concluding musical prayer for our own tumultuous times.

Orava Quartet

The Orava Quartet
founded in 2007 by brothers Daniel Kowalik (violin) and Karol Kowalik (cello), Thomas Chawner (viola), and David Dalseno (violin), is one of the most exciting string quartets of its generation. Known for their passionate and engaging performances, they have been hailed by The Australian as, “the future of Australian Chamber Music, the real deal.”

In 2018 Orava Quartet was the first ever Australian string quartet to release an album under the prestigious label Deutsche Grammophon - produced and distributed worldwide by Universal Music Australia. Their first album, featuring music by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov and Shostakovch and a collaboration with Australian Soprano Greta Bradman, was recieved to great acclaim, and in 2023 Orava Quartet will release their second album under the same label.

Orava Quartet has toured throughout Canada, the United States, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Philippines. Performing for Queen Sofia of Spain and Pope Benedict XVI. As graduate Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Colorado (USA), they had the privilege of working closely with the world-renowned Takács Quartet from 2012-2014. During this time the Quartet were selected to be part of the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar in New York City, and toured extensively in the US including at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. The Quartet also made their debut at the Sydney Opera House for VIVID Festival (in PLANETARIUM: Sufjan Stevans, Bryce Dessner and Nico Muhly) and won two major awards at the 2013 Asia Pacific Chamber Music Competition in Melbourne, including the Musica Viva Australia Tony Berg Award for ‘Most Outstanding Australian Ensemble’.

Since returning to Australia, the Orava Quartet has continued its impressive and rapid rise to national attention, earning a reputation for consistently excellent and thrilling performances. Alongside performances for Camerata - Queensland's Chamber Orchestra, where they are Quartet-in-Residence; they are also quartet in residence for the Orange Chamber Music Festival, Blackheath Chamber Music Festival and the Bangalow Music Festival. Orava Quartet has performed at many major festivals which include return engagements at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music and Huntington Estate Music Festival; Canberra International Chamber Music Festival; Tasmanian Chamber Music Festival; the BBC Proms Melbourne (for which they were named one of the ‘2016 Arts Highlights of the Year’ by arts luminary, Robyn Archer); Queensland Music Festival, Melbourne Festival (where they were again one of the ‘Top 10 Picks’ of the Festival, in the Herald Sun), the Musica Viva Festival, Brisbane Baroque, among others. Orava Quartet regularly performs and is commisioned new works by contemporary and Australian composers including Elena Kats-Chernin, Paul Dean and more.

In addition to the University of Colorado, and Camerata, the quartet has held residencies at the Banff Arts Centre in Canada, the Bundanon Trust in Australia, and studied with members of the Jerusalem, Emerson, St Lawrence, Schoenberg, Juilliard, Brentano and Goldner String Quartets. Mentored during their undergraduate studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music by Uzi Wiesel, Janet Davies and Ole Böhn, the quartet regularly collaborate with musicians such as harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani, trumpet soloist Paul Merkel, pianists Piers Lane, Simon Tedeschi, Olga Kern; singers Katie Noonan, Wolfgang Holzmair, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, and guitarists Slava Grigoryan and Karin Schaupp.

Orava Quartet is grateful for the generous support of Bruce and Angela Annabel, the Australian Cultural Fund and many other private sponsors and supporters. They are also recipients of various arts and cultural grants through the Australia Council for the Arts, Australian Music Foundation, Musica Viva, Ian Potter Cultural Trust Dame Joan Sutherland Fund, PPCA Performers’ Trust Foundation, Ernest Llewellyn Scholarship and Ars Musica. Daniel, David and Thomas play on instruments by contemporary American luthiers David Gusset and Ryan Soltis, and Karol on an unknown, 19th century cello. In 2023, the Orava Quartet was announced as Larsen Strings Artists, working as ambassadors of the brand.

This album contains no booklet.