Thursday 26 July | Nos Iau 26 Gorffennaf 7.30pm St Mary’s Church, Newport Eglwys y Santes Fair, Trefdraeth

SACCONI QUARTET

Josef Haydn String Quartet in C major Op 76, No 3 ‘Emperor’

Claude Debussy String Quartet in G minor Op 10

Interval

Franz Schubert String Quartet No 14 ‘Death and the Maiden’

Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809)

String Quartet in C, Op.76, No.3 (Emperor)

i Allegro ii Poco adagio cantabile iii Menuet (Allegro) & Trio iv Finale: Presto

Haydn’s six Op.76 quartets were written in 1796-97, soon after returning from his second journey to London. Commissioned by Count Joseph Erdödy, the Op.76, along with the two quartets Op.77, were the last full quartets Haydn completed and are his most mature and sophisticated contribution to the medium. Thereafter only the incomplete Op.103 was to follow, at which point his health and strength finally deserted him. During the same period, Haydn was working on his oratorio, The Creation, and split his year between living in Vienna and his duties for Prince Nicholas II at his palace in Eisenstadt. The Op.76 quartets reached publication in 1799.

The third of the quartets, in C major, is the best-known, and owes its nickname, The Emperor, to the third movement which uses the Austrian national anthem, or Emperor’s hymn (“Gott erhalte Franz der Kaiser”) as the basis for a set of variations. Haydn had composed the anthem early in 1797, inspired by the British national anthem (God Save the King) and was anxious that Austria, too, should have a similar national anthem, as a token of respect and love for its Sovereign. The song was written when Austria was seriously threatened by France and patriotic sentiments ran high. Later in the same year, Haydn also used it as the basis for the present quartet.

The quartet is in four movements. Many have remarked on the sonority and richness of the opening movement (Allegro), especially in the central development where the opening theme returns as a lurching folk dance over a rustic drone in the cello. It is just one example of the richness of invention within this remarkable movement. The second movement (Poco adagio cantabile) is the famous set of

four variations on the Emperor’s Hymn and the third is a minuet and dark trio, seemingly innocent and straightforward but disguising a masterly control of irregular phases and paragraphs. The mood of the trio is carried over into the finale (Presto), which starts in the minor, but, at the close, returns to the major in a mood of good-natured high spirits.

Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918)

String Quartet in G minor, Op.10

i Animé et très décidé ii Assez vif et bien rythmé iii Andantino, doucement expressif iv Très modéré

Debussy's one and only string quartet is something of a curiosity. In its use of the classical title of string quartet, it departs from Debussy's previous, and later literary and pictorial allegiances into what, on the surface, seems to be a more formal classical world. In addition the title also includes the work's key and even an opus number: the only opus number in the whole of his output. Its title though disguises the Quartet's radical and innovatory character. It was first heard in Paris in December 1893, given by the Ysaÿe Quartet, and puzzled Debussy's contemporaries: never before had the medium of the string quartet sounded so novel, rich and free.

The Quartet is in four movements, linked by a single theme that undergoes constant transformation. The first movement (Animé et très décidé), flowing naturally from one idea and seemingly the product its own passion, sets the music apart from previous quartets. The second movement (Assez vif et bien rythmé) startled early listeners with its combination of bowed and plucked strings, novel textures, rhythmic innovations and an almost orchestral treatment of the music. The inward melancholy of the slow third movement (Andantino, doucement expressif) is at the heart of the work, whilst the finale (Très modéré) draws the threads of the preceding movements together with both vigour and passion.

Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828)

String Quartet in D minor, D.810 (Death and the Maiden)

i Allegro ii Andante con moto iii Scherzo (Allegro molto) & Trio iv Presto

Although Schubert completed at least fifteen string quartets during his short life, it is only in the last three quartets and the Quartettsatz that he developed the medium beyond that of functional works for informal chamber music gatherings. Of course, the function of many string quartets of the period was to provide enjoyment to the individual players rather than to listeners who might be present. Yet Schubert could not have failed to be aware of the example of the middle period quartets of Beethoven (such as the three Rasumovsky Quartets) that had progressed far beyond the technical capabilities of most amateurs and far beyond the intellectual capabilities of most professionals. A new kind of string quartet was coming into being: a large-scale work, many times more intimate than the symphony, but inhabiting the same scale and ambition. It is to this category that Schubert's final quartets belong. Lasting nearly forty-five minutes, the D minor Quartet, Death and the Maiden, was not only larger than most symphonies of

the period, but also strains at the very limits of the quartet medium to achieve an almost orchestral sonority.

The Quartet was written in spring 1824; a year that marked a decisive turning point for Schubert. Following the serious illness of the previous year, he was to write to his friend Kupelwieser, “think of a man whose heath will never be right again … whose brightest hopes have come to nothing … is he not a miserable, unhappy being?” During the same period, Schubert’s immediate circle of friends also dispersed, turning him in on himself. But the same period also marks a turning point in Schubert’s music. The vision now becomes darker, more private and concerned with the transience of being.

The title of the D minor Quartet, Death and the Maiden, was not added by Schubert, but is completely apposite to the work on account of its second movement being based on the 1817 song of the same name. Fully aware of what this signified, Schubert seems to have imbued the whole work with a metaphorical suggestion of death and transience. It was only heard once during Schubert’s lifetime, at a private gathering in 1826, and had to wait until 1831, three years after his death, for publication.

The work is in four movements. The first (Allegro) has an unbroken driving defiant urgency that scarcely ever lets up until the poetry of its closing pages; Schubert scarcely ever again achieved music of such sustained intensive energy. The core of the work is, of course, its slow movement (Andante con moto) based on a harmonic sequence from Schubert’s earlier song in which Death seduces a young girl into accepting her end. Cast as a theme with five variations, it maintains a cool emotional distance, rising above bathos to reveal a higher form of beauty. The Scherzo (Allegro molto) returns to the driving intensity of the opening movement, relieved only briefly by its Trio. The concluding movement (Presto) scarcely relaxes the tension and was memorably described by Cobbett as, “a dance of death”.

© Peter Reynolds courtesy of Tŷ Cerdd

Sacconi Quartet Ben Hancox violin Hannah Dawson violin Robin Ashwell viola Cara Berridge cello

The award-winning Sacconi Quartet is recognised for its unanimous and compel l ing e n s e m b l e , c o n s i s t e n t l y communicating with a fresh and imaginative approach. Formed in 2001, its four founder members continue to demonstrate a shared passion for string quartet repertoire, infectiously reaching out to audiences with their energy and enthusiasm. The Sacconi is Quartet in Association at the Royal College of Music. 2017 saw the release of three new CDs by the Sacconi Quartet: In Damascus, their CD of music by Jonathan Dove including In Damascus, commissioned by the Quartet, and featuring Mark Padmore and Charles Owen; Graham Fitkin’s complete string quartets; and three of John McCabe’s quintets, featuring the composer on piano, horn player David Pyatt, and baritone Roderick Williams. 2018-19 plans include a cruise to the Arctic circle, performing fifteen concerts with artists including with Simon Rowland-Jones and Tim Horton; two Wigmore Hall concerts (the first with Daniel Hope and Freddy Kempf); the Irish premiere of In Damascus with tenor Robin Tritschler; a tour of the rarely heard John Ireland Sextet with Robert Plane and Alec Frank-Gemmill; and a new commission by Judith Bingham. 2018 sees the eleventh year of the Sacconi Chamber Music Festival in Folkestone, with Graham Fitkin as composer in residence and collaborations with the London Bridge Trio, Moray Welsh and African trio Chesaba. In Summer 2015 the quartet launched HEARTFELT, their most innovative project to date. A radical re-interpretation of Beethoven’s iconic String Quartet in A minor opus 132, HEARTFELT pushed the boundaries of chamber music through combining sound, light and touch, for a truly unique performance in which audience members connected with each performer’s heartbeat through holding robotic ‘hearts’. www.heartfelt.org.uk The name Sacconi Quartet comes from the outstanding twentieth-century Italian luthier and restorer Simone Sacconi, whose book The Secrets of Stradivari is considered an indispensable reference for violin makers. Robin is indebted to Ellen Solomon for the use of his viola. Ben, Hannah & Cara have all been generously loaned their instruments by the Royal Society of Musicians, a charity which helps musicians in need, for which they are extremely grateful.

“An exceptional ensemble…a unanimous sense of musical breath and a meticulous attention to detail.” Musical Opinion