Castalian String Quartet - Haydn, Dohnanyi and Bartók
Book online via the Music at Oxford website
Haydn: String Quartet in in A major, Op.20 No.6
Dohnanyi: Serenade for String Trio Op.10
Bartók: String Quartet No.5
Tickets £15
There will be a pre-concert talk, given by Professor Daniel Grimley, starting at 6.45pm in the Holywell Music Room.
Please note this programme has changed since it was originally advertised
One of the most distinctive voices in classical music, Béla Bartók helped to redefine the genre in the 20th century. This was particularly through his love of traditional folk music, the traditions of which informed his own music – melodies, rhythms, and playing styles. That fusing of genres reached its peak in his string quartets, music which is hypnotic, intense and often emotionally exhausting. In this concert, the Castalian String Quartet play his fifth quartet, with its furious, urgent finale & Haydn's string quartet in A major. Between you’ll hear Dohnanyi’s Serenade for String Trio Op.10.
This is a precious opportunity to hear another concert given by the wonderful Castalian Quartet, whose three-year residency at Oxford University (https://music.web.ox.ac.uk/castalian-string-quartet) has been made possible by the Cosman Keller Art & Music Trust, in memory of the musician and writer Hans Keller.
Presented in association with:
Cosman Keller Trust, the University of Oxford's Faculty of Music and Music at Oxford.
About the Artists
The Castalian String Quartet is taking the international chamber music scene by storm. Gaining renown for interpretations “full of poetry, joy and sorrow, realised to such perfection” (The Observer), they have recently been announced as the first Hans Keller String Quartet in Residence at the University of Oxford. Formed in 2011, the quartet studied with Oliver Wille at the Hochschule für Musik, Hannover, before being selected by the Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) in 2016. They were awarded First Prize at the 2015 Lyon International Chamber Music Competition and in 2018 were recipients of the inaugural Merito String Quartet Award and Valentin Erben Prize, and a prestigious Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship. The ensemble was named Young Artist of the Year at the 2019 Royal Philharmonic Society Awards.
Recent debuts include New York’s Carnegie Hall, the Berlin Philharmonie, Vienna Konzerthaus, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, Paris Philharmonie and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. The Castalian String Quartet performs frequently at the Wigmore Hall in its home city of London. In 2018 they recorded Haydn’s Op.76 quartets for the Wigmore Live label and were joined by pianists Stephen Hough and Cédric Tiberghien, violist Isabel Charisius and clarinettist Michaels Collins for a Brahms and Schumann series in the 2019-20 season. Their next Wigmore Hall cycle will feature all three quartets by Benjamin Britten.
The quartet often appears at festivals such as Spoleto USA, Aldeburgh, North Norfolk, Cheltenham, East Neuk, Lockenhaus and Heidelberger Frühling. Recent and upcoming premieres include works by Charlotte Bray, Edmund Finnis, Mark Simpson, Simon Rowland-Jones and Sir Mark-Anthony Turnage. The Castalian String Quartet’s 2022 release Between Two Words (Delphian Records), presenting music by Orlando di Lasso, Thomas Adès, Ludwig van Beethoven and John Dowland, was given a double five-star review as BBC Music Magazine’s ‘Album of the Month’:“this outstanding disc offers listeners a true philosophical journey…a series of intricately connected works, each performed with rare beauty and originality by a quartet at the height of its powers…[the Heiliger Dankgesang from Beethoven Op.132] is nothing short of a revelation in its lucidity of line and sheer beauty of sound.”
The quartet’s nameis derived from the Castalian Spring in the ancient city of Delphi. According to Greek mythology, the nymph Castalia transformed herself into a fountain to evade Apollo’s pursuit, thus creating a source of poetic inspiration for all who drink from her waters. Committed to inspiring a diverse audience for classical music, the Castalians have performed everywhere from the great concert halls to maximum security prisons and even the Colombian rainforest.
When not on stage, Finnish first violinist Sini Simonen bags Munros, Irish violist Ruth Gibson teaches yoga and the Welshmen, second violinist Daniel Roberts and cellist Steffan Morris, get overly emotional about rugby.
