Takács Quartet

Beethoven Quartet in A, Op 18 No 5
Britten Quartet No 1, Op 25
Dvořák Quartet No 13 in G, Op 106

Join us for an exciting and passionate performance from one of the world’s great ensembles.
The Takács Quartet are praised for their flawless balance between rich individual playing and compelling sound. They are among the world’s most accomplished chamber ensembles – and one of its most musically distinctive.

Tonight’s programme opens with one of Beethoven’s first set of quartets. It continues with music by Britten and Dvořák written at significant moments in both composers’ lives. Initial ideas for Dvořák’s penultimate quartet came whilst he was living in America. The work itself was written and premiered after he returned to live in his native Bohemia.

Britten’s quartet was commissioned by the American patron Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge. He composed the work in the humble surroundings of a garden tool shed during his stay in California. The work premiered in Los Angeles and Britten told his benefactress that he rated the quartet as ‘my best piece so far’.

Edward Dusinberre violin
Harumi Rhodes violin
Richard O’Neill viola
András Fejér cello