Rosendorf Quartet

by Nathan Shaham

Book Overview

The Rosendorf Quartet is both a deft portrait of the complexities and contradictions that have gone to make up the state of Israel and a stunning tribute to the curative powers of music, in whose realm dissonance, politics, and personal anguish dissolve into art, transcending human conflict and national boundaries.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802133169
• ISBN13: 9780802133168
• Release Date: February 1994
• Publisher: Grove Press
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

A good book about music

If one were to take Vikram Seth's excellent "An Equal Music" as the benchmark for books about classical music in general and quartets and their travails in particular (and I do), then this book does not quite measure up. This is not to say that it is not a good book because it is, and perhaps some of the pacing was lost in the translation from the original Hebrew. Either way, The Rosendorf Quartet is an interesting read, and like others have mentioned, it does operate on several levels, musically, historically, ideologically, psychologically, etc... The most interesting chapters are provided by the violins of the quartet, and I say this both in terms of plot progression and intellectual discussions. However, the book sputters in the last third, and the novelist's "epilogue" is a bit of a letdown. From a more political standpoint, I can't say that the book resonated with me. As a Palestinian perhaps this is to be expected, but I did not feel that the book depicted the events of the times in a very compelling manner. Still, "The Rosendorf Quartet" is a worthy addition to any musician's library, and is a good read. I have heard of a "sequel" to it entitled "Rosendorf's Shadow", but I'm quite sure it was not as good and was not translated into English.

A must read

Displaced Jewish musicians from Germany, not suspeced of Zionism, find themselves in the ideologically zealous Palestine of 1937.With the prospects of going back to Germany becoming slimmer, and the future of Jews in Palestine being shaky, they try to find condolence in music.The personal differences between the four quartet members are intensified by the division of the novel into different parts, each one the diary of a different quartet member.While the music making and the social surroundings are always present, the book's main merit is in presenting the personal turmoil that people undergo when uprooted from their homeland, especially one that has betrayed them.

the rosendorf quartet

This is a superbly well-written book, beautifully translated into English from the original Hebrew. It operates on many levels: nominally, it is about four displaced German-Jewish musicians, refugees from Hitler's Germany who find themselves in Palestine in 1937. Metaphorically it can be read as the power of chamber music as a common denominator among disparate personalities and fractured lives. It also offers insights into traditional European culture in the context of a pioneering social experiment in the Middle East. A riveting read. A civilising experience.

Wonderful Novel

I thought this was an intelligent and beautifully written book. No fireworks, car chases, television drama. Instead, we get intriguing characters and complex relationships. A brilliant look at Israeli society and four people trying to make music together.