BEETHOVEN!
The Complete String Quartets
The New Zealand String Quartet celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2012 with a special project, BEETHOVEN!, a complete cycle of Beethoven’s sixteen String Quartets in six programmes *.
Experience this great composer through his string quartets – music of passion, drama and great beauty.
Part One – The Age of Enlightenment
Part One of this cycle, The Age of Enlightenment, is two programmes of the six string quartets written early in Beethoven’s life as Opus 18, when he was just 30. The title refers to the graceful, classical elegance of the Enlightenment in this music.
The Age of Enlightenment programmes was presented by the New Zealand String Quartet exclusively at the New Zealand International Arts Festival in Wellington, 25 and 26 February 2012.
Part Two – Revolution
Part Two is called Revolution. The string quartets of Beethoven’s “middle” period, full of heroic and revolutionary sentiments, are symphonic in scope. The group includes the three Quartets of Opus 59, commissioned by Count Razumovsky, Russian Ambassador to Vienna.
The two programmes of Revolution were toured by Chamber Music New Zealand in April and May, complemented by local presenters in Whangarei, Upper Hutt and Waikanae.
Part Three – The Late Quartets
Part Three, The Late Quartets, completes the BEETHOVEN! cycle. These two programmes of the composer’s last completed works include string quartets regarded as some of the greatest and most spiritually profound music ever written. Here Beethoven is mysterious, magical and deeply moving.
The unforgettable programmes of The Late Quartets will be toured to six cities in August and September by the New Zealand String Quartet and presented by Christopher’s Classics in Christchurch.
* BEETHOVEN! is a partnership project between the New Zealand String Quartet and Chamber Music New Zealand in association with the New Zealand International Arts Festival.
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