Calder Quartet: Early Haydn (& Hillborg)
Benjamin Jacobson violin, Tereza Stanislav violin, Jonathan Moerschel viola, Eric Byers cello.
Programme
Joseph Haydn String Quartet no. 34 op. 33 no. 4
Anders Hillborg Kongsgaard Variations
In the very first edition, Haydn’s thirty-fourth string quartet was not fourth in the series of six quartets, but last. Is this quartet actually the ending that Haydn intended? In that case, we may have to deem it more important than we would in the first place. Anders Hillborg’s Kongsgaard Variations helps us to do so. A nice counterpoint to Haydn’s humor and playfulness through its narrative contemplation. Swedish landscapes that pass by like a reflection in the train window…
The Early Haydn is like the first cup of coffee of the day. Haydn’s playful music transports you to 18th-century Vienna: wigs, ball gowns, golden halls… But Haydn also stimulates the intellect. The ease with which he allowed the four voices of the string quartet to converse with each other was innovative. Around 1781 he surprised his audience time and time again, now we mostly hear the brilliant foundation he laid single-handedly for the string quartet that followed for almost 250 years.
See all events for String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam 2022 in BIMHUIS here.