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String quartet project

November 16, 2009

For many music lovers, the string quartet is the "queen of composition." And, at the Beethovenfest in Bonn, this queen received the reverence due to her.

https://p.dw.com/p/KJRB
The musicians of the Kuss Quartet (Source: Beethovenfest, Copyright: Boris Streubel)
The musicians of the Kuss QuartetImage: Boris Streubel

Conceived as a thematic cycle, the String Quartet Project provided the opportunity to hear guest performances by four internationally reputed string quartets from three continents: the Australian String Quartet, the Pacifica Quartet from the USA, the Pavel Haas Quartet from the Czech Republic and the Kuss Quartet from Berlin.

The young musicians presented works from the quartet repertoire from the 18th century to the present day. In addition, each quartet played a work by a composer from its country of origin.

Kuss Quartet

The Kuss Quartet opened the series of concerts with the String Quartet K. 458, subtitled "The Hunt," by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It owes its nickname to the theme of the first movement, which recalls a hunter's horn call.

The Kuss Quartet then played another classic work, the String Quartet No. 3 in B-flat Major by Johannes Brahms. It is one of just three string quartets that Brahms ever wrote. The Kuss Quartet gave convincing interpretations of both works, combining spontaneous musicality with a robust, always transparent sound.

The musicians of the Pacifica Quartet (Source: Beethovenfest)
The Pacifica QuartetImage: beethovenfest.de

Pacifica Quartet

For the second part of the concert, dedicated to contemporary music, the Pacifica Quartet played a work by American composer George Crumb (1929 -): "Black Angels - Thirteen Images from the Dark Land for Electric String Quartet." Crumb wrote this piece as a reaction to the Vietnam War. In the score, he noted: "Finished on Friday the Thirteenth, March, 1970 in tempore belli [in time of war]." It is a mystical, spiritual piece about the darkness and profound mystery of the world, about God and the Devil, about fallen angels. Its effect is heightened by the use of electronic amplification. Highlighting its ingenious sound effects, the Pacifica Quartet, which is especially committed to contemporary music, played the work with great precision and intensity.

Program:

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

String Quartet in B-flat Major, K 458 ("Hunt")

Johannes Brahms

String Quartet No. 3 in B-flat Major, Op. 67

George Crumb:

"Black Angels - Thirteen images from the dark land" for electric string quartet

Performed by:

Kuss Quartet

Pacifica Quartet

Performed at the Beethoven-Haus Bonn on Sept. 18, 2009 and recorded by Deutsche Welle

Norbert Hornig/gz/kjb