In the 19th century, the traditions of chamber music were cultivated not only in aristocratic residences, the homes of distinguished artists and concerts organised by local music societies, but also in conservatoires across Europe. It is no coincidence that the entire chamber output of the eminent Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko – consisting of just two works, a string quartet and a string trio – dates from his student years. In his four-movement String Trio in A minor for two violins and viola (1869), Lysenko introduced several motifs of a distinctly national character.
Published in recent years, the contemporary Danish composer Hans Abrahamsen’s arrangement of Franz Schubert’s six Moments musicaux, D 780 (1828), for octet (clarinet, bassoon, horn and string quintet) is his personal tribute to the Austrian composer.
Beethoven's Sonata in A major for Violin and Piano ‘Kreutzer’, Op. 47 (1803), was originally intended for George Polgreen Bridgetower, the enigmatic and eccentric mixed-race violinist of the Prince of Wales, who was said to have been born in Poland. The work was ultimately dedicated, however, to the French violin virtuoso Rodolphe Kreutzer. This concert features the rarely performed arrangement for string quintet, which gives the celebrated sonata a quite different sound world.
Grzegorz Zieziula