Performers
Takács Quartet
- Edward Dusinberre, Violin
- Harumi Rhodes, Violin
- Richard O'Neill, Viola
- András Fejér, Cello
Program
HAYDN String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 74, No. 3, "Rider"
CLARICE ASSAD NEXUS (NY Premiere, co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall)
DEBUSSY String Quartet
Encore:
BEETHOVEN Allegro molto from String Quartet in C Major, Op. 59, No. 3, "Razumovsky"
Event Duration
The printed program will last approximately two hours, including one 20-minute intermission.Listen to Selected Works
At a Glance
HAYDN String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 74, No. 3, “Rider”
Haydn’s three Op. 74 Quartets—which, together with the companion Op. 71 triptych, make up the conventional set of six—were commissioned by Count Apponyi, the composer’s Hungarian friend and patron. The extraverted exuberance of the G-Minor Quartet reflects the musical personality of Johann Peter Salomon, the resourceful impresario and violinist who lured Haydn to London in the 1790s and whose ensemble introduced all six quartets to British audiences.
CLARICE ASSAD NEXUS
The composer writes, “NEXUS was inspired by watching the Takács String Quartet’s visceral, whole-body approach to musical expression … The work explores the magnetic forces that draw us together and apart in our modern physical and virtual worlds—the invisible threads of influence, the seductive pull of belonging, and the courage required to maintain an authentic and diverse voice within a collective.”
DEBUSSY String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 10
Debussy’s first and only string quartet received little attention when it was first performed in Paris in late 1893. Although a handful of listeners recognized the seeds of the composer’s future greatness, many more seem to have been nonplussed by his unorthodox treatment of harmony and form—the work’s quasi-cyclical structure, in particular, was ahead of its time. Only later did Debussy’s G-Minor Quartet take its place alongside Ravel’s String Quartet as one of the glories of the chamber music literature.