Haydn - Mozart

The programme: HAYDN String Quartet in B-flat major, Op.

The programme:

HAYDN

String Quartet in B-flat major, Op. 33, No. 4, Hob. III: 40

MOZART

String Quartet No. 14 in G major, Op. 10, No. 1, “Spring”, K. 387

The artists:

Olivia Hughes, violin

Suzanne Durand-Rivière, violin

Claire Parruitte, viola

Benoît Grenet, cello

Friendship and Admiration

Haydn and Mozart held a mutual admiration for each other, crystallised in their quartets of the 1780s. Their first meeting undoubtedly took place in 1781, while Haydn was working on his six Quartets Op. 33. A new breath of life emanates from this perfectly balanced cycle: ideas proliferate, the style asserts itself, and the scherzo replaces the usual minuet. The Op. 33 Quartets form a significant milestone in the development of the modern quartet. In Vienna, Mozart performed them on the viola and grasped their full visionary scope. Stimulated by Haydn's proposals, he in turn wrote the six quartets Op. 10, the first of which bears the revealing title “Spring”. He dedicated them to his elder and asked him to treat them as his sons, to “receive them with kindness and be their father, their guide, and their friend!”. The juxtaposition of two quartets from these masterful opuses offers a sample of this fertile friendship. Listening keys, a mediation will be offered at the beginning of the concert.