Esmé Quartet

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Image courtesy of l'Auditori.

The young Esmé Quartet takes us back to the origins of the string quartet, performing a work by Joseph Haydn, who pioneered the development of the genre in the Austro-German society of the late 18th century. His series of Six Quartets, Op. 33, written in 1781, is considered the perfect synthesis of Viennese Classicism. The second of these, “The Joke”, is notable for its humor and irony, achieved by confounding the listener’s expectations, especially in the second and fourth movements.

The three quartets in Schumann’s Op. 41, probably the most rapidly produced in the whole history of music, look back to the genre’s first period of splendor. In the third of these, his debt to Bach, Mozart and Beethoven is clearly visible.

Finally, “Spring” from Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter (2006), by the Chinese-American composer Kui Dong (1966), is a fine example of the contribution of the minimalist movement to the quartet.

Program

• Franz Joseph Haydn: String Quartet, Op. 33 No. 2 “The Joke” 17 min
• Kui Dong: “Spring” from Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter (2006) 6′. National Premiere
• Robert Schumann: String Quartet in A major, Op. 41 No. 3 (1842) 30′

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