Chiaroscuro Quartet

Haydn Quartet in B flat, Op 33 No 4
Haydn Quartet in D, Op 33 No 6
Schubert Quartet in A minor, D804 Rosamunde

‘a trailblazer for the authentic performance of High Classical chamber music’
Gramophone

Our Associate Artists have a unique sound which comes from them performing on gut strings and with historical bows.

For their latest visit, the Chiaroscuro Quartet perform two of the Op 33 set of quartets which Haydn described as written ‘in a new and special way’. It has been suggested this was a marketing pitch to subscribers. However it was also a reflection of the fact that the works are lighter and less serious than their predecessors. Schubert’s work is the only one of his 15 quartets to be performed and published in his lifetime. It is so-called because it incorporates some of the incidental music the composer wrote for the play of the same name.

Playing with gut strings is one thing; playing with such assuredness and golden musicality on them is another. Scotsman