Musikalischer Sinn

Composer Boris Yoffe, born and raised in St. Petersburg in 1968, emigrated to Israel in 1990 and has lived in Karlsruhe since 1997. He became known for his Quartet Book, a seemingly endless, constantly growing and changing collection of four-part instrumental poems. Yoffe is also the author of two operas, a symphony for four players, and numerous chamber music works.
Yoffe is a student of Adam Stratievsky (St. Petersburg/Tel Aviv) and Wolfgang Rihm (Karlsruhe), who writes about Yoffe: "He is one of the most talented and idiosyncratic figures among the composers of his generation. His works are characterized by extraordinary concentration... In addition to his compositional work, Yoffe is a highly sensitive instrumentalist and profound theorist. His analyses of classical and contemporary works always open up new perspectives: for his students and for myself."

"Anyone who thinks that everything has already been said, written, heard, etc., will be in for a surprise when they hear Boris Yoffe's music," writes Wolfgang Sandner (KlassikAkzente) about "Song of Songs," the CD released in 2011 by ECM New Series featuring a selection from the quartet's repertoire.

Boris Yoffe's compositions are characterized by a highly distinctive style. He is as unidentifiable with recent musical trends as he is with recent intellectual ones. His reflections on classical and contemporary music seem timeless; they aim beyond academic interpretations to a deeper musical meaning. His perspective seems detached from time. As if from a distance, but not without consensus with our cultural-historical traditions, his thoughts revolve around the core content, the essence of music. Yoffe proves himself to be a proven expert on Russian, Jewish, and German musical tradition and culture.

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