Repertoire
Franz Joseph Haydn: String Quartet No. 60 in G major, Op. 76 No. 1 (1797-1798) 19′
Béla Bartók: String Quartet No. 3, Sz 85 (1927) 15′
Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat major, Op. 130 (1825; rev. 1825-1826) 42′
ARTISTS
Lukas Hagen, violin
Rainer Schmidt, violin
Veronika Hagen, viola
Clemens Hagen, cello
Programme
Can the history of a musical form be summarised in a single evening? The Hagen Quartett make a valiant attempt to do so with a programme tracing a journey through the string quartet’s history. From “Papa Haydn” (as Mozart dubbed him) to the challenges of harmony and rhythm posed by Béla Bartók, this concert also includes Beethoven’s famous Quartet No 13. The quartet’s formal and harmonic magnificence serves as a link between the fall of Classicism and the dawn of a modernity that was already pointing to the twentieth century. The programme culminates in the emblematic “Grand Fugue”, which at first no publisher was keen to publish, a piece revealing Beethoven’s free spirit and rebellious approach to music.
