“We’re looking forward to sharing with you the genius and vision of these works as well as elucidating the qualities which make each work so remarkable. Features will include Debussy's colouristic Quartet in G minor, Beethoven’s most loved Opus 131 and two short works by Webern, the early ‘Langsamer Satz’, infused with Romantic ardour, and the playful '6 Bagatelles’, distilled into a few minutes of magic!” Rolf Gjelsten, NZSQ cellist
This year’s national tour in August/September will see us perform four carefully curated programmes of groundbreaking works which each, in their own way, have affected the future of string quartet composition.
Included in our Turning Points touring repertoire is Mozart’s String Quartet in C, K465, which acquired the nickname “Dissonance” several years after his death, undoubtedly due to the extraordinary harmonic boldness of the first movement’s slow introduction. Despite its title, this quartet is one of Mozart’s most brilliant and high-spirited works.
Beethoven was renowned as a trailblazer so it’s not surprising that each of our three tour programmes includes one of his most innovative quartets: the first of the Razumovsky quartets (op 59/1); his quartet in F minor, op 95 (nicknamed “Serioso”); and the extraordinary opus 131 quartet in C# minor, which Robert Schumann felt stood “...on the extreme boundary of all that has hitherto been attained by human art and imagination."
Quartets from the 19th and 20th centuries are also to the fore, including Smetana’s semi-autobiographical “From My Life”, Debussy’s colouristic Quartet in G minor, Webern’s delicious Langsamer Satz and quirky Bagatelles, and the extraordinary Abhisheka by New Zealand’s own John Psathas.
Fri 17 Aug, 7:30pm | ANZAC Hall, Featherston | Programme 1
Sat 18 Aug, 7:30pm | Caccia Birch House, Palmerston North | Programme 3
Sun 19 Aug, 1:00pm | Cloudy Bay Vineyards, Blenheim | Programme 1
Sun 19 Aug, 5:00pm | Cloudy Bay Vineyards, Blenheim | Programme 2
Tue 21 Aug, 7:30pm | Lodge at The Hills, Queenstown | Programme 2
Wed 22 Aug, 7:30pm | Victoria Room Civic Theatre, Invercargill | Programme 3
Thu 23 Aug, 7:30pm | The Piano, Christchurch | Programme 4
Sat 25 Aug, 7:30pm | Hunter Council Chamber, Wellington | Programme 2
Sun 26 Aug, 3:00pm | St Andrew's on The Terrace, Wellington | Programme 3
Wed 29 Aug, 7:30pm | Blue Baths, Rotorua | Programme 3
Thu 30 Aug, 7:00pm | All Saints Anglican Church, Howick | Programme 1
Fri 31 Aug, 7:30p | St Matthew-in-the-City, Auckland | Programme 2
Sat 1 Sep, 6:00pm | Cable Bay Vineyards, Waiheke Island | Programme 1
Programme 1 Mozart: String Quartet No. 19 in C major, K. 465 (“Dissonance”) Beethoven: String Quartet No. 11 in F minor, Op. 95* Debussy: String Quartet in G minor, Op. 10 *NOTE: Howick does not include Beethoven
Programme 2
Psathas: Abhisheka
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 14 in C♯ minor, Op. 131
Smetana: String Quartet No. 1 in E minor (“From My Life”)
Programme 3
Mozart: String Quartet No. 19 in C major, K. 465 (“Dissonance”)
Webern: Langsamer Satz
Webern: Six Bagatelles, Op.9
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 7 in F major, Op. 59, No. 1
Programme 4 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 11 in F minor, Op. 95 Bartok: String Quartet No. 2 in A minor Webern: Six Bagatelles, Op.9 Mozart: String Quintet No. 3 in C major, K 515