In 1918, Bartók dedicated his Second String Quartet to the Waldbauer-Kerpely Quartet, the young ensemble that had premiered his First String Quartet eight years earlier. World War I made Bartók’s musicological fieldwork impossible, but it also influenced his style. While the First String Quartet still resonated with post-Romantic influences of Reger and Wagner, the Second is fully modernist – Bartók’s entire oeuvre can already be recognized here.

The String Quartet Biennale is pulling out all the stops with Bartók. His six string quartets will be performed in one afternoon by three world-renowned quartets: the Belcea Quartet, the Doric String Quartet, and the Jerusalem Quartet. Speaker Bas van Putten and Rebecca Wise, cellist of the Ragazze Quartet, delve into the composer’s life and, together with the musicians, offer a glimpse into the workings of this extraordinary oeuvre.

Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven published string quartets in series of six. Perhaps Bartók also wanted to tell his story in six quartets, as he was certainly aware of classical culture. Within his set of six, the middle two offer the most radical development. The music of the one-movement third String Quartet, the shortest of them all, is perhaps the least accessible of the entire cycle. In the Fourth, Bartók’s obsession with symmetry and reflection is ubiquitous.

The String Quartet Biennale presents Bartók on a grand scale, with all six of his string quartets performed in one afternoon by three world-renowned quartets: the Belcea Quartet, the Doric String Quartet, and the Jerusalem Quartet. Speaker Bas van Putten and Rebecca Wise, cellist of the Ragazze Quartet, delve into the composer’s life and, together with the musicians, provide a glimpse into the workings of this extraordinary oeuvre.

If Bartók’s quartet oeuvre can be compared to that of Beethoven, his Fifth and Sixth quartets align with Beethoven’s late string quartets. The musical language is different, but the similarity in depth is striking. The rhythmic expansion of the Fifth is akin to Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge, while the introspection of the Sixth matches that of the slow movements in Beethoven’s works. In this way, Bartók concludes an unparalleled cycle of six quartets spanning thirty years.

The String Quartet Biennale presents Bartók on a grand scale, with all six of his string quartets performed in one afternoon by three world-renowned quartets: the Belcea Quartet, the Doric String Quartet, and the Jerusalem Quartet. Speaker Bas van Putten and Rebecca Wise, cellist of the Ragazze Quartet, delve into the composer’s life and, together with the musicians, provide a glimpse into the workings of this extraordinary oeuvre.

Does coincidence exist? The young composer and violinist Joseph Haydn – not yet “Papa”, but rather “puppy” Haydn – played with three random other string players for the Viennese Count Von Fürnberg. The accidental harmony was so pleasing that the count asked Haydn for more repertoire for this combination. In the works that followed, Haydn laid the foundation for the string quartet, the medium that has given us so much beautiful music. In the concert series Early Haydn, the classical beauty of Haydn’s Opus 33 is in the hands of a different quartet every morning.

Does coincidence exist? The young composer and violinist Joseph Haydn – not yet “Papa”, but rather “puppy” Haydn – played with three random other string players for the Viennese Count Von Fürnberg. The accidental harmony was so pleasing that the count asked Haydn for more repertoire for this combination. In the works that followed, Haydn laid the foundation for the string quartet, the medium that has given us so much beautiful music. In the concert series Early Haydn, the classical beauty of Haydn’s Opus 33 is in the hands of a different quartet every morning.

Does coincidence exist? The young composer and violinist Joseph Haydn – not yet “Papa”, but rather “puppy” Haydn – played with three random other string players for the Viennese Count Von Fürnberg. The accidental harmony was so pleasing that the count asked Haydn for more repertoire for this combination. In the works that followed, Haydn laid the foundation for the string quartet, the medium that has given us so much beautiful music. In the concert series Early Haydn, the classical beauty of Haydn’s Opus 33 is in the hands of a different quartet every morning.

In his Opus 33 quartets, Haydn embarked on new paths: no more Sturm und Drang, but more space for humor. Number six not only demonstrates the lighter style of these works, but also Haydn’s masterful refinement. Takemitsu’s mysterious A Way a Lone, based on a fragment from James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake, offers a serious contrast.

Does coincidence exist? The young composer and violinist Joseph Haydn – not yet “Papa”, but rather “puppy” Haydn – played with three random other string players for the Viennese Count Von Fürnberg. The accidental harmony was so pleasing that the count asked Haydn for more repertoire for this combination. In the works that followed, Haydn laid the foundation for the string quartet, the medium that has given us so much beautiful music. In the concert series Early Haydn, the classical beauty of Haydn’s Opus 33 is in the hands of a different quartet every morning.

Does coincidence exist? The young composer and violinist Joseph Haydn – not yet “Papa”, but rather “puppy” Haydn – played with three random other string players for the Viennese Count Von Fürnberg. The accidental harmony was so pleasing that the count asked Haydn for more repertoire for this combination. In the works that followed, Haydn laid the foundation for the string quartet, the medium that has given us so much beautiful music. In the concert series Early Haydn, the classical beauty of Haydn’s Opus 33 is in the hands of a different quartet every morning.

Does coincidence exist? The young composer and violinist Joseph Haydn – not yet “Papa”, but rather “puppy” Haydn – played with three random other string players for the Viennese Count Von Fürnberg. The accidental harmony was so pleasing that the count asked Haydn for more repertoire for this combination. In the works that followed, Haydn laid the foundation for the string quartet, the medium that has given us so much beautiful music. In the concert series Early Haydn, the classical beauty of Haydn’s Opus 33 is in the hands of a different quartet every morning.

“The Serenissima” is the title of the final movement of Britten’s Third String Quartet. In this movement, which he wrote in Venice, Britten quotes from his opera Death in Venice. He was extremely weak and could hardly attend the rehearsals of the Amadeus Quartet and died two weeks before the premiere. The meditative work ends with an unresolved chord, called “a question” by Britten – a remarkable conclusion to a grandiose oeuvre.

Schubert also reaches depths in the monumental String Quintet, one of his last works, that only reveal themselves on the border between life and death. This masterpiece is played often, but a truly excellent ensemble like the Belcea Quartet is needed to do the quintet full justice. In Britten’s First Cello Suite, Antoine Lederlin demonstrates the quality that characterizes the individual Belcea players.

The Australian String Quartet, founded in 1985, represents the string quartet tradition on the oldest continent in a unique way. All four musicians are skilled in playing a beautiful Guadagnini instrument. Furthermore, the ensemble is renowned for presenting challenging programs with an Australian connection. During the String Quartet Biennale, their distinguished compatriots Lou Bennett and Paul Stanhope will be showcasing the European premiere of their composition for string quartet, this time featuring the addition of the human voice.

Mozart’s Fifteenth String Quartet, which is the second of the six quartets dedicated to Haydn, is a dramatic piece that foreshadows the poignant late string quartets of Beethoven. Similarly, in his Second String Quartet, Britten adopts a serious tone. The piece was written in 1945 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Purcell’s death. Just a few months prior, Britten and Yehudi Menuhin had toured the just liberated German concentration camps, an experience that undoubtedly influenced the composition of this quartet.

Contrasting religious music styles from Western European, Afro-American, and 21st-century traditions converge in Mass, a concert designed as a Catholic mass. Each of these cultures approaches beauty in a different way, yet they all critically examine how we deal with personal problems in our lives.

Originally designed as a work for bass-baritone and piano by American opera singer Davóne Tines, Mass has been adapted for the String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam with the Calder Quartet performing and the voice and string quartet merging organically. The design and direction of Mass are in the hands of Lisenka Heijboer Castañón, whose love of music is the foundation for telling a story.

Almost all major composers have at times expanded the string quartet with a fifth instrument. This has resulted in monumental compositions such as Schubert’s quintet with two cellos. Brahms used sketches for his Fifth Symphony for a work with a symphonic design: his Second String Quintet convincingly pushes the boundaries of chamber music. Scottish composer James MacMillan also explored the possibilities of a quintet.

Good relationships with publishers are vital for composers. Mozart dedicated his KV 499 to his publisher and fellow Freemason Franz Anton Hoffmeister. At the age of 57, Brahms wrote to his publisher Simrock that his Second String Quintet would be his last composition, and that he would enjoy a quiet old age. Fortunately, he did not keep this promise, or we would have missed out on some wonderful works.

A string quartet is generally absolute music. But sometimes composers give a programmatic hint in a title (Sibelius: Voces Intimae) or a subtitle (Beethoven: ‘Muss es sein?’). In “From my Life”, Smetana tells the story of his deafness, which began with a high-pitched ringing in his ear – that tone is heard in the fourth movement. This composition is a moving personal document.

The fifteen quartets of Shostakovich can be seen as one large personal document, and the dark Eleventh string quartet is no exception. The structure is exceptional: seven short, contiguous sections refer to the classical divertimento. Beethoven’s Eighth string quartet also features a minimal extramusical motif: in the third movement, a Russian theme appears as a tribute to the commissioner, the Russian ambassador Andreas Razumovsky.

This original program proves that lesser-known composers can bring surprises. Spohr’s concerto is on the cusp of the Classical and Romantic periods, as is Fanny Mendelssohn’s quartet. Maddalena Sirmen, a Venetian student of Baroque composer Giuseppe Tartini, wrote her quartets when Haydn began to establish the form. Pleyel studied under Haydn and later became his amicable competitor in London.

Specialist in Baroque violin Amandine Beyer is a curious and inventive musician. The French musician and her founded Kitgut Quartet are joining forces with the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century for this String Quartet Biennale, seeking the truth behind the notes through historically informed performance practice.

The historically informed Butter Quartet joins forces with the plucking specialists of Lute Legends. The program that the eight musicians put together speaks of the connection of various string instruments throughout the ages: their musical journey goes from Europe via the Middle East and Persia to China.

The music takes us from 18th-century Vienna via late Ottoman classical music to contemporary Chinese compositions incorporating traditional singing. When the Lute Legends and the Butter Quartet come together, they weave a story that spans time and distance. This shows what a string quartet can be in the present.

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.

Against a backdrop of photos, the Ragazze Quartet plays music by composers with an American history: Fellow Travelers. Dvořák pursued fortune, Bartók was on the run. Both couldn’t settle in the New World, but they wrote some of their most beautiful compositions there.

The youngest work on the program is by Yevgeniy Sharlat. Born in Moscow, he also built a life in the United States. For Fifty for the Future, the grand project of the Kronos Quartet in which fifty composers were asked to write a new piece, Sharlat wrote his Pencil Sketch. Each player needs two pencils with erasers at the end for the performance.

Songwriter, composer, pianist and cellist Ayanna Witter-Johnson was inspired by Jamaican folk singing and tells the story of her ancestors with her “Island Suite” for the Solem Quartet. Almost a century before her, Bartók also immersed himself in folk music from Eastern Europe. And a hundred years before that, Beethoven transcended time in his Grosse Fuge; music that, as Stravinsky said, will always sound contemporary.

In their series Beethoven Bartók Now, the musicians of the English Solem Quartet combine the work of these two giants of music history with brand-new compositions. Their intention is to shed a new light on these iconic works by Beethoven and Bartók and to place both composers in a new context.

Join the Australian String Quartet as they explore the rich and diverse evolution of string quartet music in Australia. Guided in conversation and song with Yorta Yorta Dja Dja Wurrung, Dr Lou Bennett AM, this program celebrates the diverse composers of modern Australia alongside the European music that has influenced the Australian musical landscape. From First Nations Australian culture to the music of Sculthorpe, Symonds and Beethoven, this is the story of a quartet and country.

Dr Lou Bennett AM is a Performer, Songwriter, Artistic Director, Composer and Academic from the Yorta Yorta and Dja Dja Wurrung people in Echuca, Victoria. As a musician and researcher, Lou’s work is committed to leading social change in Australia through arts-based practice and community engagement.Completing her PhD at RMIT in 2015, Lou’s dissertation discusses the importance and relevance of Aboriginal language retrieval, reclamation and regeneration through the medium of art to community health and wellbeing. As the McKenzie Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne, Lou continues to research the obstacles and ethical issues related to retrieving and transmitting Aboriginal languages cross-culturally and across different generations.

Does heaven exist? With two quartets on stage at the same time, we come pretty close. The closing concert of the String Quartet Biennale can rightly be called a celebratory concert: the Tetzlaff Quartett and the Signum Quartett demonstrate in Enescu’s famous Octet how the dialogue between string instruments becomes even more intense when you double the four voices.

The Tetzlaff Quartett and the Signum Quartett join forces in Enescu’s special Octet. But the intimacy of the quartet is also highlighted this evening in Sibelius’ Voces Intimae and Mendelssohn’s beloved Second String Quartet. The Tetzlaff musicians take the lead and showcase their unique sound character.

During the festival edition of 2024, many talented young string quartets can be heard. In the program section “Grass Roots”, the String Quartet Biennial presents three promises of the future: Quatuor Confluence, Isidore String Quartet and Quartetto Indaco. With an inventive approach to the repertoire, these three string quartets represent the youngest generation, a generation that is aware of the present and past.

This concert presents winners of three major string quartet competitions. All three will perform music that will showcase their character as a string quartet. The American Isidore Quartet won the Banff International String Quartet Competition,  the French Quatuor Confluence took home the first prize at the Trondheim International Chamber Music Competition and the Italian Quartetto Indaco won the first prize at the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition.

Shortly before you enter the main hall (Grote Zaal) for the evening concert, writer and presenter Katy Hamilton will get into the music on the programme with you. She’ll talk with performers and composers, and together they’ll give you a good look at the music and behind the scenes. Each introduction will be followed by a warm-up act in the Entreehal, performed by quartets from various Dutch conservatories.

Shortly before you enter the main hall (Grote Zaal) for the evening concert, writer and presenter Katy Hamilton will get into the music on the programme with you. She’ll talk with performers and composers, and together they’ll give you a good look at the music and behind the scenes. Each introduction will be followed by a warm-up act in the Entreehal, performed by quartets from various Dutch conservatories.

Shortly before you enter the main hall (Grote Zaal) for the evening concert, writer and presenter Katy Hamilton will get into the music on the programme with you. She’ll talk with performers and composers, and together they’ll give you a good look at the music and behind the scenes. Each introduction will be followed by a warm-up act in the Entreehal, performed by quartets from various Dutch conservatories.

Shortly before you enter the main hall (Grote Zaal) for the evening concert, writer and presenter Katy Hamilton will get into the music on the programme with you. She’ll talk with performers and composers, and together they’ll give you a good look at the music and behind the scenes. Each introduction will be followed by a warm-up act in the Entreehal, performed by quartets from various Dutch conservatories.

Shortly before you enter the main hall (Grote Zaal) for the evening concert, writer and presenter Katy Hamilton will get into the music on the programme with you. She’ll talk with performers and composers, and together they’ll give you a good look at the music and behind the scenes. Each introduction will be followed by a warm-up act in the Entreehal, performed by quartets from various Dutch conservatories.

Shortly before you enter the main hall (Grote Zaal) for the evening concert, writer and presenter Katy Hamilton will get into the music on the programme with you. She’ll talk with performers and composers, and together they’ll give you a good look at the music and behind the scenes. Each introduction will be followed by a warm-up act in the Entreehal, performed by quartets from various Dutch conservatories.

Shortly before you enter the main hall (Grote Zaal) for the evening concert, writer and presenter Katy Hamilton will get into the music on the programme with you. She’ll talk with performers and composers, and together they’ll give you a good look at the music and behind the scenes. Each introduction will be followed by a warm-up act in the Entreehal, performed by quartets from various Dutch conservatories.

In 1822, a letter arrived on Beethoven’s doorstep from St. Petersburg, addressed to “Monsieur Louis van Bethoven à Viennes”. The postal details on the letter required no further explanation to make their way into the hands of the rightful owner, afterall, he was Beethoven. The letter was from a wealthy aristocrat and devoted fan of the great Viennese composer, Nikolaus Galitzin, who also happened to be an amateur cellist. Galitzin had commissioned several quartets from Beethoven, inspiring the composer to return to the string quartet after more than a decade and embark on his late opus numbers in this genre – works that would become unparalleled in quartet literature. 

In Jan Caeyers’ excellent biography of Beethoven, the chapter on the late string quartets is entitled “The Discovery of Heaven”. This is fitting, as these quartets, like Mulisch’s novel, open up a world beyond comprehension. Beethoven’s music expresses the essence of love and pain more powerfully than words ever could. At the height of his creativity, he explores the boundary between thinking and feeling, between matter and spirituality.

Beethoven wrote his Thirteenth String Quartet during a period when he was plagued by family problems and poor health. After the premiere, he replaced the final movement, the Grosse Fuge, with a new finale. This shifted the emotional weight of the quartet onto the Cavatina, a work that brought Beethoven to tears every time he read his own notes. He could no longer listen to it…

In Jan Caeyers’ excellent biography of Beethoven, the chapter on the late string quartets is entitled “The Discovery of Heaven”. This is fitting, as these quartets, like Mulisch’s novel, open up a world beyond comprehension. Beethoven’s music expresses the essence of love and pain more powerfully than words ever could. At the height of his creativity, he explores the boundary between thinking and feeling, between matter and spirituality.

Many consider Beethoven’s Fourteenth String Quartet the Mount Everest of his late quartets. For the composer himself, it was his favorite piece. A moving fugue is the first of seven parts that seamlessly transition into each other. The richness of ideas, mastery of form, inventiveness in variations, and emotional range make this quartet one of the very best works of art that humanity has produced.

In Jan Caeyers’ excellent biography of Beethoven, the chapter on the late string quartets is entitled “The Discovery of Heaven”. This is fitting, as these quartets, like Mulisch’s novel, open up a world beyond comprehension. Beethoven’s music expresses the essence of love and pain more powerfully than words ever could. At the height of his creativity, he explores the boundary between thinking and feeling, between matter and spirituality.

The very young Leonkoro Quartett is a rising star in the world of string quartets, having recently won several awards. The Berlin-based ensemble has received much praise for their performances of Beethoven’s music. Beethoven’s opus 132 – published as his fifteenth string quartet, but in reality the thirteenth he wrote – includes the moving “Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesenen an die Gottheit”. The healthy and energetic members of the Leonkoro Quartett are now looking at this Himalayan piece of quartet literature from a contemporary perspective.

In Jan Caeyers’ excellent biography of Beethoven, the chapter on the late string quartets is entitled “The Discovery of Heaven”. This is fitting, as these quartets, like Mulisch’s novel, open up a world beyond comprehension. Beethoven’s music expresses the essence of love and pain more powerfully than words ever could. At the height of his creativity, he explores the boundary between thinking and feeling, between matter and spirituality.

Ignaz Dembscher, the organizer of the premiere of Beethoven’s last string quartet, owed the composer money. In order to obtain the manuscript of Op. 135, Beethoven insisted that Dembscher pay first. When Dembscher asked, “Muss es sein?” (Must it be?), Beethoven famously replied with the canon, “Es muss sein, ja, ja. Heraus mit dem Beutel!” (It must be, yes, yes. Out with the purse!), and incorporated the conversation into his composition.

In Jan Caeyers’ excellent biography of Beethoven, the chapter on the late string quartets is entitled “The Discovery of Heaven.” This is fitting, as these quartets, like Mulisch’s novel, open up a world beyond comprehension. Beethoven’s music expresses the essence of love and pain more powerfully than words ever could. At the height of his creativity, he explores the boundary between thinking and feeling, between matter and spirituality.

Feeling the music through vibrations – it’s said that this is how Beethoven was able to continue composing even when he became deaf. Dancers Antoine Hunter and Zahna Simon take this to an extreme, demonstrating just how well it’s possible. Despite their deafness, they have learned to interpret the vibrations of the music and express themselves through a mix of jazz ballet and urban dance. Together with the Calder Quartet, Hunter and Simon choreograph a performance to Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 13 and the Grosse Fuge.

Amandine Beyer, a specialist in baroque violin, divides her time among various ensembles where she performs as a guest, collaborates with dancers, and she leads her own groups, including Gli Incogniti and the Kitgut Quartet. She shares her wealth of experiences with the Nácar Quartet.

Masterclass by members of the Jerusalem Quartet

The Jerusalem Quartet is among the cream of the crop in the international music scene. ‘Their playing has everything you could possibly wish for”, as BBC Music Magazine stated. How they arrived at this rich playing, the four members of the Israeli quartet will share with a young quartet from the Dutch String Quartet Academy or the Conservatory of Amsterdam during this masterclass.

Masterclass by Mark Steinberg (Brentano String Quartet)

He is the founder of the Brentano String Quartet, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2022. He loves Iceland, the rhythm in Bartók, Schumann sung by Matthias Goerne, and early music has a special place in his heart: violinist Mark Steinberg is giving a masterclass to a young quartet from the Dutch String Quartet Academy or the Conservatory of Amsterdam.

She calls herself a musician who happens to play the viola, but Tabea Zimmermann is the queen among violists. Her rich, glowing tone has the power to sprinkle golden powder across the stage. In this masterclass, she will collaborate with a talented young quartet from either the Dutch String Quartet Academy or the Conservatory of Amsterdam.

Schumann and Mendelssohn met for the first time in 1835; Robert as a critic and budding composer, Felix as the chief conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and a composer with several successes to his name. The two twenty-year-olds developed a deep friendship, in which they not only promoted and performed each other’s works, but also played chamber music together, played chess and billiards.

An additional viola in a string quartet offers a huge advantage: you can program a viola duo. George Benjamin wrote Viola, Viola for Yuri Bashmet and Nobuko Imai, and wanted to emphasize the melancholic, intimate character of the viola in this composition. But along the way, he discovered more and more possibilities to elicit symphonic sounds from the eight strings. Viola, Viola could prove to be the most voluminous work of this concert.

In the opening concert of the String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam, the past and present will come together in a spectacular way. In Adès’ The Four Quarters, the composer’s historical awareness merges with his contemporary musical language. In Three Divertimenti Adès’ fellow Brit, Britten, references his later string quartets. And of course, Schubert’s Der Tod und das Mädchen is an immortal masterpiece.

In Der Tod und das Mädchen, Schubert uses his own song as the theme for the variations of the second movement. The entire quartet is in a minor key, with the typical Schubertian melancholy evoked by a single major turn. The Danish Quartet, four modern thirty-somethings who love vintage cars and video games, fully understand the weltschmerz of ripe Schubert. 

Thirty years after the release of the legendary album The Juliet Letters by Elvis Costello and the Brodsky Quartet, the Matangi Quartet and singer-songwriter Ruben Hein present a 21st-century sequel to this masterful song cycle. The Matangi Quartet and Ruben Hein were inspired by the collected Dutch letters from the book P.S. by Jet Steinz and, with new compositions, add a contemporary chapter to the world of multidisciplinary music experience.

In P.S., letter texts take on the form of songs, and the sound and harmony are the source of movement, dynamics, and energy. The poetic fusion of word and music moves between clear lines and impressionistic soundscapes, and between written text and music.

It’s no coincidence that the Animato Quartet has included Grieg’s First String Quartet in their program, as Primarius Inga Våga Gaustad is playing music from her fellow countryman. Grieg was inspired by the Norwegian nature and the view of spectacular fjords to create breathing space in the sound and achieve optimal resonance for the strings. In addition to Grieg, the Animato Quartet also represents the Dutch component with Tristan Keuris’ First String Quartet.

The Selected by series offers great works – alongside each other, in connection or contrast with each other. In an hour, you will hear the string quartet in its entirety: all times, styles, sounds, and colors.

Thomas Adès, a contemporary giant in his own right, praises the great composers of the past while his compositions reveal a fascination with music history. The Doric String Quartet invites Dutch clarinet virtuoso Jelmer de Moed to join them in creating the Adesian sound spectrum of ‘Alchymia’. Beethoven, too, learned from his colleagues, and in his String Quartet Op. 18 No. 5 in A Major, he modeled the piece after an early Mozart quartet in the same key.

The Selected by series offers great works – alongside each other, in connection or contrast with each other. In an hour, you will hear the string quartet in its entirety: all times, styles, sounds, and colors.

In 1809, Beethoven wrote three important works: the Fifth Piano Concerto, the Piano Sonata “Les adieux”, and his Tenth String Quartet. All these compositions – coincidence or not – are in the same key, E-flat major. The quartet is nicknamed the “Harp Quartet” because of the ample amount of pizzicato in the first movement. The techniques used by Bushra El-Turk in her contemporary idiom will be demonstrated by the members of the Dudok Quartet Amsterdam at the world premiere of this brand-new composition.

The Selected by series offers great works – side by side, opposite each other; connected or contrasting. In an hour, you can hear the string quartet in its full breadth: all times, styles, sounds, and colors.

Garth Knox, former violist of the Arditti Quartet, has created Secret Letters as a four-part string quartet for the Marmen Quartet. Each part is a musical letter from one member of the quartet to the other three, in which that player writes their wish list for a new quartet. The comments of the colleagues trigger increasingly heated discussions. Janáček’s Second String Quartet also refers to letters, and the sixteen-year-old Mozart composed his sixth quartet in Milan – he surely wrote home about it.

The Selected by series offers great works – next to each other, opposite each other; connected or contrasting with each other. In an hour, you hear the full range of the string quartet: all times, styles, sounds, and colors.

When his beloved sister Fanny Mendelssohn died in 1847, Felix took time for himself in Switzerland to process this loss. There, he painted, went on mountain hikes, and composed his Sixth String Quartet. It would be one of his last completed works, as he died in the same year as his sister. Fanny was not allowed to pursue a career as a composer despite her talent, but nowadays, women composers are no longer a rarity. Her colleague Seung-Won Oh wrote a new work for the Ragazze Quartet.

The Selected by series offers great works – alongside each other, in connection or contrast with each other. In an hour, you will hear the string quartet in its entirety: all times, styles, sounds, and colors.

It all started with a few arrangements by violinist Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen, appealing as an encore. This idea grew into something more, and the folk music of the far North now belongs to the standard repertoire of the Danish String Quartet. The musicians effortlessly blend the dance-like rhythms with Haydn’s classical notes.

“Music is a way to hang out with friends, and we hope we can continue to hang out for many, many years.” This quote from the Danish String Quartet, which is celebrating its twentieth anniversary this season, illustrates the character of the quartet, the way these musicians conquer the stage. Their friendship forms the basis for a natural and intense interplay that sets the ears on stalks.

Leading up to the String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam, young string quartets participated in the SQBA residency program where they collaborated with a group of blind amateur singers. Together, they explored what they had in common and what made them different, while learning to feel and inspire one another, communicate their boundaries, and work together as a team.

‘Trust‘ for String Quartet and Choir (2023) is the title of two programs developed by the Dutch Belinfante Quartet and the Belgian-Polish Karski Quartet, together with visiually impaired amateur singers. Composer Matijs de Roo wrote a piece that brings both groups together in a new sound world, an impressive culmination of a year and a half of collaboration. Royal Visio, the expertise center for visually impaired and blind people, was closely involved in the creation process.