A Far Cry Presents: Lineage

Grammy-nominated string orchestra A Far Cry traces a line through history, family, and transformation with a program of works by Muffat, Beecher, Hailstork, and Bartók. Feel the power of music to carry memory—and us—across generations.

Musical Program

Georg Muffat | Passacaglia
Lembit Beecher | “These Memories May be True,” arr for string orchestra
Adolphus Hailstork | Sonata da Chiesa
Béla Bartok | Divertimento for String Orchestra

We begin with Georg Muffat’s Passacaglia, a baroque masterpiece built on unceasing variation—a musical form that grounds the listener even as it evolves. Lembit Beecher’s These Memories May Be True, reimagined for string orchestra, explores the murky space between fact and family folklore, where meaning lives not in accuracy but in transmission. Hailstork’s Sonata da Chiesa reflects the composer’s fascination with cathedrals, particularly the one (the Cathedral of All Saints in Albany, New York) in which he was a chorister as a child. And Bartók’s Divertimento for String Orchestra, the first major work ever performed by A Far Cry, returns not as nostalgia, but as a touchstone—vivid, visceral, and alive.

Curated by Crier Miki Cloud