Eliot Quartett "Four Quartets"

T.S. Eliot's "Four Quartets" is considered by many to be the finest poem in the English language. Published as four separate poems, Eliot always intended to combine them into a single work. Inspired by what Beethoven accomplished in his late quartets, Eliot wished "to do in poetry what Beethoven had done in music." George Gopen, an Eliot scholar at Duke and the longtime Director of the Chamber Arts Society of Durham, will present a reading of the poem alongside his own music, written to directly echo major moments of musicality in his reading. In the first half of the program, the Eliot Quartett, who named themselves after the poet, will perform a late work of Beethoven. This will be the world premiere of this unique performance of Eliot's latest and greatest poem.