The Great, Late Beethoven Quartets

The Great, Late Beethoven Quartets
St Mary of the Angels Church
7 September 6.30pm (by candlelight) Programme 5
8 September 6.30pm Programme 6

The New Zealand String Quartet is playing a programme of Beethoven’s late string quartets at St Mary of the Angels Church in Wellington.

It’s the culmination of BEETHOVEN!, a nationwide series presenting all of the Beethoven string quartets as part of the Quartet’s 25th anniversary celebrations.

The two programmes that complete the BEETHOVEN! Cycle include the composer’s last completed works with string quartets regarded as some of the greatest and most spiritually profound music ever written. Here Beethoven is mysterious, magical and deeply moving.

NZSQ cellist Rolf Gjelsten says that words can only serve as superficial guides into the mysterious world of the Late Beethoven String Quartets.

“From the first bars of each work we are drawn into a trance-like state with an intense and profound dialogue, questioning the very essence of the human condition,” Gjelsten says.

“It’s as if Beethoven is finally resigning himself to his mortal stuggles, to fate and will, and expressing an overarching idea that the diversity and paradox that exist in society and life are all operating under a unifying force,” he says.

“Each late quartet contains a profound message about our purpose in this world. Revisiting these works time and time again magnifies our sense of awe and discovery.”

NZSQ violist Gillian Ansell says Beethoven was writing for himself and posterity. “He was not concerned with the reaction of his contemporary audiences, who would not have heard anything like it,” she says. “He was on a search for resolution to mankind's suffering and pain. The late quartets in minor keys end either magically or triumphantly in a major key,” Ansell says.

BEETHOVEN! Part Three: The Late Quartets
Programme 5
String Quartet No 12 in E flat major Opus 127
String Quartet No 16 in F major Opus 135
Interval
String Quartet No 15 in A minor Opus 132

Programme 6
String Quartet No 13 in B flat major Opus 130 with Grosse Fuge
Interval
String Quartet No 14 in C# minor Opus 131

How to book

Book at Ticketek www.ticketek.co.nz Service charges may apply

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