Extending String Quartet: Around Bartók's Fifth
with Brentano String Quartet
Brentano String Quartet
Serena Canin (violin)
Mark Steinberg (violin)
Misha Amory (viola)
Nina Lee (cello)
Béla Bartók
Burlesque from 44 Duos for 2 violins
Johann Sebastian Bach
Quaerendo invenietis, canon a 2 from the 'Musical Offering'
Johann Sebastian Bach
Contrapunctus VII from the 'Art of Fugue'
Béla Bartók
#141: Subject and Reflection from 'Mikrokosmos'
Henry Purcell
Fantasia No. 11
Béla Bartók
Mosquito Dance from 44 Duos for 2 violins
Joseph Haydn
Allegretto alla zingarese from Quartet in D Major, op. 20 no. 4
Béla Bartók
Marching Song from 44 Duos for 2 violins
Fairy Tale from 44 Duos for 2 violins
Béla Bartók
#113 Bulgarian Rhythm from 'Mikrokosmos'
Luciano Berio
Yossi from Duetti per 2 violini
Ludwig van Beethoven
Allegretto vivace e sempre scherzando from Quartet in F Major, op. 59 no. 1
Béla Bartók
String Quartet no. 5
Mark Steinberg, the founder and primarius of the Brentano String Quartet, considers Bartók’s Fifth String Quartet to be a magnificent and beautiful work. Together with the other members of the Quartet, he has curated a program centered around Bartók’s piece. The program highlights the stylistic devices used by the composer by including works of other fellow composers, such as Purcell, Bach, Haydn, Beethoven, and Berio. Of course, Bartók’s Fifth Quartet is also played in the program.
Bartók’s Fifth Quartet features canons, mirrored voices, rhythms borrowed from folk music, and repetition of the same pitch. He utilized all the possibilities these compositional techniques offer to create this piece. After exploring these stylistic devices in the works of other composers, the listener hears Bartók’s Fifth Quartet with a different ear.