The profound music making and “rampaging energy” (The New Yorker) of the Danish String Quartet are brought to bear on a program which begins with the second of Haydn’s Opus 20 quartets — pieces which explore new harmonic territory and emphasize the qualities of each individual instrument.
Then, Hans Abrahamsen’s innovative first quartet, a collection of ten “preludes,” juxtaposes jagged, aggressive figurations with moments of extreme tenderness. Finally, Beethoven’s Opus 59 “Razumovsky” quartets were unlike any previously written: of great length and greater difficulty, Beethoven told critics that “they are not for you, but for a later age.”
Program:
Haydn, Quartet in C Major, Op. 20, No. 2 (Hob. III:32)
Hans Abrahamsen, Quartet No. 1 “10 Preludes” (1973)
Beethoven, Quartet No. 7 in F Major, Op. 59, No. 1, “Razumovsky”
