String Quartets by Haydn, Beethoven & Fanny Mendelssohn

If you define “Shakespearean” as art that happily embraces both sublime poetry and earthy humour then Haydn and Beethoven definitely rub shoulders with the Bard.

The AHE commence their season with two wonderful quartets that morph effortlessly from the lofty to the lowbrow. Then Fanny Mendelssohn’s quartet, apparently the first ever composed by a woman, offers an elegant, if far from ladylike, riposte.

Beethoven never set Shakespeare, even in translation, but his instrumental works often cryptically allude to his favourite plays. When the mind’s eye of his lead violinist conjured a lovers’ farewell scenario to the wrenching despair of Op. 18 No. 1’s Adagio, Beethoven confessed its secret link to Romeo and Juliet’s final scene. Interpolations on the sketches reveal a rare literal approach (“He enters the tomb…he kills himself…the dying sighs” ) but the composer wisely decided to let the music speak for itself.

Haydn seemed never to be afforded that option, with public and publishers leaping to assign programmatic nicknames to his works. Whether the hazy, soft-focused opening to his Sunrise quartet is an actual depiction of dawn matters little: the first two of Op. 76 No. 4 are among the most rhapsodically beautiful of all quartet movements.

Neither teacher nor pupil suffer any qualms about getting their hands dirty in the remaining movements, however: brilliant counterpoint sits alongside tipsy hiccoughing and belching, and each culminate in the dizzy whirl of a country dance. Listen, too, for a hint of Transylvania in the trio to Haydn’s Minuet.

Fanny’s sole Quartet in E flat major, largely composed before she became Mrs. Hensel, is now justly popular and lauded for its formal and harmonic audacity. High rotation on classic radio has very nearly put its scintillating Allegretto in the warhorse stable, while the surrounding movements have long outgrown the need for special pleading: it’s a splendid work to experience live, and the lush finale generates a guaranteed adrenalin rush.

ARTISTS

Skye McIntosh Violin
Matthew Greco Violin
Karina Schmitz Viola
Daniel Yeadon Cello

PROGRAM

HAYDN
String Quartet Op. 76 No. 4 Sunrise

FANNY MENDELSSOHN (HENSEL)
String Quartet in E flat major

BEETHOVEN String Quartet Op. 18 No. 1 in F major

CONCERT DURATION: Approx 120 minutes with a 20 minute interval

PERFORMANCES & TICKETS

Sunday 9 March, 4pm, Parramatta Riverside Theatres, NSW
Thursday 13 March, 7pm Wesley Music Centre, Canberra, ACT
Friday 14 March, 7pm, Berry Uniting Church Hall, NSW
Saturday 15 March, 4pm, Bowral Memorial Hall, NSW
Monday 17 March, 7pm, The Utzon Room, Sydney Opera House, NSW