ConTempo Quartet with Didzis Kalniņš
Bogdan Sofei, 1st violin
Ingrid Nicolai, 2nd Violin
Andreea Banciu, Viola
Adrian Mantu, Cello
Didzis Kalniņš, piano
String Quartet No. 12 in c minor, D. 703, “Quartettsatz" by Franz Schubert
Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34, by Johannes Brahms
Acclaimed Galway based ConTempo Quartet return to the National Concert Hall’s John Field Room for a lunchtime concert which opens with Franz Schubert’s ‘Quartettsatz’ in c minor. This dynamic piece was a first movement from an unfinished quartet begun in December 1820 but abandoned by the composer for unknown reasons. Later the composition came into the possession of Johannes Brahms who edited and published it in 1870. It is considered to be a representation of Schubert’s mature phase and is indeed full of the promise realised in his later compositions.
During the summer of 1864, Johannes Brahms published his Piano Quintet which had started out life as a quintet but for strings only and then transcribed for two pianos. It reached its final conclusion however as a piano quintet and is often referred to as ‘the crown of his chamber music’ (Jan Swafford, Johannes Brahms: A Biography (New York: Vintage, 1997), p. 324.
With these two wonderful compositions performed by ConTempo quartet and Latvian pianist Didzis Kalniņš, a lively lunchtime concert is guaranteed.
Presented by KenDu Music
Didzis Kalniņš - Piano
Four Etudes for the Sostenuto Pedal by Lūcija Garūta (1902-1977)
World premiere of a commissioned piece by Rhona Clarke which will also explore the device of the ‘third’ pedal.
Sonata in B minor by Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
While the sostenuto pedal is regarded as a valuable tool for colouring and clarifying musical texture, its main feature is a selective sustain of notes without blurring the sound. The Latvian composer Lūcija Garūta premiered the Etudes in 1933. Each movement is given a characteristic title which is intensified with the effects of different sostenuto pedal techniques, unfolding the composer’s independent research of this rarely used pedal. Together with Clarke’s new work, these compositions provide ground-breaking material in the realm of the sostenuto pedal. Sonata in B minor by Franz Liszt (1811-1886), dedicated to Robert Schumann, was completed in 1853 and published in 1854. The work did not receive immediate acclaim from audiences or critics, but by the early twentieth century, it had established itself as the pinnacle of Liszt's repertoire. The unique structure, along with Liszt's virtuosity, results in a piano composition full of expression and mysterious beauty.
Presented by KenDu Music