The Rothko String Quartet is creating a new oratorio for Bach's 339th birthday. Held together by its own chorales, it is dominated by tributes from other female composers to the birthday boy. From Maria Herz's arrangement of the famous Chaconne from 1927 and Florence Price's Folk Songs in Counterpoint to "Reflections on the Theme B-A-C-H" by Sofia Gubaidulina and Caroline Shaw's "The Evergreen", a universe of different music-historical strands opens up, all of which start with Bach. The most diverse musical styles interweave through time to reveal new perspectives in each other and thus reveal a living legacy of the composer that goes far beyond his own work.

[text: Thüringer Bachwochen]

[...] Carolin Shaw's [...] string quartet "The Evergreen" allows the members of the Rothko String Quartet [...] to display their full variety of sounds, from echoes of Arvo Paert's "Fratres" including meditative tinntinabuli to roaring chords and pizzicati sounding like falling drops of water.

[review: Dietholf Zerweck, Ludwigsburger Kreiszeitung, August 6, 2024]