After performing in Candid Arts’ Victorian warehouse last month, Artisti Con Brio are back as part of their Chamber Music Wednesdays series.
the performers:
Artisti Con Brio
the programme:
Reicha Quartet in C Minor + Dvorak Quartet in F ‘The American’ + Janacek Quartet No.2 ‘Intimate Letters’
about the music:
This concert features three landmark string quartets by Czech composers.
The evening kicks off with a piece by Anton Reicha, one of our favourite hidden gems. During his lifetime, Reicha was unwilling to publish his work and so he slipped under the radar despite writing some seriously progressive music for the 18th century.
Reicha’s music for string quartets is all about juxtaposition, and the Quartet in c minor has some great examples. It’s full of sudden, unprepared changes of key and extreme shifts in texture, rhythm and melody.
Take the first couple of minutes, for example - played here by the Kreutzer Quartet. The piece starts with a series of odd, questioning little phrases. Listen out for the dramatic changes at 0.36 and 1.33. It’s really unusual this kind of quirky unprepared shift, and would have been unthinkably experimental for its time.
Antonin Dvorák composed the next piece, his Quartet in F, whilst on a summer break away from his work in New York City. It was the piece’s connection to the Midwestern States and use of American folk inflections which earned it the nickname: ‘The American’.
Listen out for folk influences in the opening section. It starts with the tune in the second violin (second from left), and from then on dance-like folk themes dominate. An open, simple character - achieved by use of a pentatonic scale - a unifying element throughout the piece.
The concert closes with Leos Janacek’s quartet titled Intimate Letters. The title references the inspiration for the piece: Janacek’s relationship with Kamila Stösslová, and the 700+ letters they exchanged.
Listen to this excerpt from the second movement, meant to depict the town where Janacek and Stösslová met and shared their first kiss. You can really hear the emotional journey of love and anguish played out in the lush, rich texture and expressive melodies.
about the performers:
Artisti Con Brio are an exciting group of players, brought together as part of a vision to develop a platform where European-based musicians have the freedom and inspiration to explore new music.
This concert will feature Cara Laskaris and Anna Caban (violins) + Johan Höglind (viola) + Corinna Boylan (cello).
about the venue:
Candid Arts Trust’s venue in Angel, Islington is extraordinary. It’s a massive space spanning two Victorian warehouses, a loft exhibition gallery, 28 artist’s studios, film screening rooms, rehearsal spaces, and a café with outside courtyard. A great place to spend any evening.
the price:
£15