Takács Quartet
Performers
Takács Quartet
·· Edward Dusinberre, Violin
·· Károly Schranz, Violin
·· Geraldine Walther, Viola
·· András Fejér, Cello
Erika Eckert, Viola
David Requiro, Cello
Program
HAYDN String Quartet in D Major, Op. 76, No. 5
SHOSTAKOVICH String Quartet No. 11
BRAHMS String Sextet in G Major, Op. 36
Event Duration
The printed program will last approximately two hours, including one 20-minute intermission.At a Glance
JOSEPH HAYDN String Quartet in D Major, Op. 76, No. 5
Haydn was at the peak of his powers when he wrote his Op. 76 quartets in the mid-1790s. Yet these six masterpieces, which are more or less contemporary with his oratorio The Creation, would be among Haydn’s last contributions to the genre that he did so much to create. The D-Major Quartet is notable for its youthful exuberance, motivic unity, and harmonic adventurousness.
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH String
Quartet No. 11 in F Minor, Op. 122
Perhaps more than any composer since Beethoven, Shostakovich employed the string quartet as a vehicle for his deepest ruminations on the human condition. The 11th of his 15 quartets dates from 1966, a period in which the beleaguered composer—whose music had long been suppressed by Soviet authorities—finally achieved the recognition he deserved, both at home and abroad. Characteristically, the seven interconnected movements of the F-Minor Quartet veer between morbid brooding and frenetic activity.
JOHANNES BRAHMS String Sextet No.
2 in G Major, Op. 36
The 1860s saw Brahms devote significant creative energy to chamber music—including the second of his two string sextets. Focusing on chamber-music composition allowed him to grapple with problems of structure and ensemble that would inevitably arise in his symphonies and other large-scale works. In contrast to the rigorous discipline of the string quartet—with its lineage stretching back to Beethoven, Mozart, and Haydn—the fuller sonorities of the string sextet encouraged a more Romantic mode of expression.