Brentano String Quartet (photo Juergen Frank)

Extending String Quartet: Around Bartók's Fifth

Brentano String Quartet
Thu 1 Feb 2024 14:15 - 15:20
Thu 1 Feb 2024
14:15 - 15:20
  • Thu 1 Feb 2024
    14:15 - 15:20
    Excl. drankje
    Grote Zaal

Program

Chases and Reflections:
Béla Bartók
Burlesque uit 44 duo’s for 2 violins
Johann Sebastian Bach Quaerendo invenietis, canon a 2 from ‘Das musikalische Opfer’
Johann Sebastian Bach Contrapunctus VII from ‘Die Kunst der Fuge’
Béla Bartók #141: Subject and Reflection from ‘Mikrokosmos’ 
Henry Purcell Fantasia nr. 11 
Béla Bartók Mosquito Dance uit 44 duo’s for 2 violins

Hungarian and Bulgarian Rhythms:
Joseph Haydn Allegretto alla zingarese from String quartet op. 20 nr. 4
Béla Bartók Marching Song uit 44 duo’s for 2 violins
Béla Bartók Fairy Tale uit 44 duo’s for 2 violins
Béla Bartók #113: Bulgarian Rhythm from‘Mikrokosmos’ 

Obsessions ans Pulsations: Fixation on a Single Note:
Luciano Berio Yossi from Duetti per 2 violini 
Ludwig van Beethoven Allegretto vivace e sempre scherzando from String quartet op. 59 nr. 1
Béla Bartók String quartet nr. 5

Credits

Brentano String Quartet:
Mark Steinberg violin
Serena Canin violin
Misha Amory viola
Nina Lee cello

A magnificent piece

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.