Sundays 3:00pm, Holywell Music Room

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16 February 2020

From Bach to Nielsen

Atéa Quintet

Zemlinsky Humoresque
Bozza Divertimento
Tuur Arkitektoniks
Briccialdi Quintet in B flat
Bach Selections from Goldberg Variations
Nielsen Wind Quintet

The Atéa Quintet is one of the foremost British Wind Quintets. They will be playing a diverse programme of delights including music by Bach and Nielsen whose wind quintet, a work of contrasting moods, was inspired by the personalities of the players for whom it was written.  

Internationally acclaimed, the Atéa Quintet became double prize winners at the 2015 Carl Nielsen International Chamber Music Competition and are Associate Ensemble in Residence at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.

Atéa Quintet: Alena Walentin, Flute, Anna Hashimoto, Clarinet, Ashley Myall, Bassoon, Chris Beagles, Horn, Philip Haworth, Oboe

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12 January 2020

Doric String Quartet

Haydn Beethoven & Sibelius

Haydn Quartet op 33 no 2
Sibelius Quartet 'Voces Intimae' op 56
Tarrodi String Quartet no 3 'Light Scattering'
Beethoven Quartet in F op 18 no 1

Firmly established as one of the leading string quartets of its generation, the Doric String Quartet receives enthusiastic responses from audiences and critics across the globe. Alongside their main season concerts the Quartet also has a busy international festival schedule.  

Haydn's popular 'Joke' quartet opens the programme. Sibelius's quartet reflects the personal cross-roads the composer had reached in his transition from a romantic to a modernist composer and the lyrical and impressionistic Quartet no 3 by Swedish composer Andrea Tarrodi was inspired by the play of light on glass. (This replaces the previously advertised Divertimenti by Britten). One of Beethoven's much-loved quartets brings the concert to a close.

Doric String Quartet: Alex Redington & Ying Xue, violin, Hélène Clément, viola, John Myerscough, cello

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1 December 2019

Mozart & more

Britten Oboe Quartet

Moeran Phantasy Quartet
Lutyens Driving Out The Death
Françaix Cor Anglais Quartet
Mozart Adagio K580a for Cor Anglais Quartet
Knussen Cantata
Mozart Oboe Quartet K370

Nicholas Daniel is one of the world's great oboe players who performs with a string ensemble of friends as the Britten Oboe Quartet. They bring an attractive and informal programme.  

As well as Mozart's great oboe quartet we will hear Nicholas Daniel's own completion of Mozart’s elegiac fragment K580a. Knussen's Cantata and the delightful Cor Anglais Quartet of Jean Françaix have a particular resonance for Daniel so we can be assured of an interesting and engaging afternoon.

Britten Oboe Quartet: Nicholas Daniel, oboe and cor anglais, Jacqueline Shave, violin, Clare Finnimore, viola, Caroline Dearnley, cello

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3 November 2019

Pavel Haas String Quartet

Beethoven & Tchaikovsky

Beethoven Quartet op 59 no 3
Tchaikovsky Quartet no 3

The Pavel Haas Quartet is a world-class ensemble renowned for their outstanding concerts and recordings, 'the blend of sound in the group is better than ever'. This is a very special opportunity to hear the Quartet perform in the intimacy of the Holywell Music Room.  

Beethoven's opus 59 quartets were commissioned by his patron Count Razumovsky and the third of these is one of his most radiant and most frequently performed of all his works of this genre. Tchaikovsky's highly expressive third quartet is a work of contrasting moods ending in joyful celebration. He dedicated it to the memory of a virtuoso violinist who was a fellow professor at the Moscow Conservatory.

Pavel Haas Quartet: Veronika Jarůšková & Marek Zwiebel, violins, Jiří Kabát, viola, Peter Jarůšek, cello

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3 March 2019

Schubert Trout Quintet

Frith Piano Quartet

Hummel Piano Quintet in E flat op 87
Beethoven Piano Quartet in E flat op 16
Schubert Piano Quintet in A D667 The Trout

The splendid (Benjamin) Frith Piano Quartet with guest double bassist, in a programme of pure enjoyment. 

We all know the Trout Piano Quintet by Schubert, but how many of us know the piece which prompted its composition, the E flat Piano Quintet by the most popular composer of the time, Johann Nepomuk Hummel? Between this interesting pairing we'll have the delight of Beethoven’s Opus 16 Piano Quartet.

The distinguished line up of performers is Benjamin Frith - Piano, David LePage - violin, Robin Ireland - viola, Richard Jenkinson - cello, John Tattersdill - double bass

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24 February 2019

Mozart & Brahms Clarinet Quintets

Endymion

Mozart Clarinet Quintet in A K581
Martinů Three Madrigals for violin and viola
Brahms Clarinet Quintet in B minor op 115

Endymion's members are no strangers to Oxford's music lovers and they number among the best soloists and chamber musicians in Europe. For us they perform two much-loved chamber works for clarinet and strings.  

Martinů's approachable but distinctive chamber music should be heard more often. His Three Madrigals for violin and viola were inspired by Mozart's Duos and they draw on the Bohemian-Moravian folk themes and dances of the composer's roots.

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27 January 2019

Haydn Beethoven & Fanny Mendelssohn

Consone String Quartet

Haydn Quartet in D minor op 103
Beethoven Quartet in F op 18 no 1
Haydn Quartet in D minor op 42
Fanny Mendelssohn Quartet in E flat

This young prize-winning quartet is dedicated to exploring and recreating the sound-worlds of the Classical and early Romantic string quartet repertoire through period instrument performance.  

The Consone bring familiar repertoire as well as the lesser known. These include Haydn's last quartet and a work by Felix Mendelssohn's highly talented sister. 'The players know how to enjoy themselves, they clearly know that Haydn did too'. [Wigmore Hall concert review in 'The Strad']

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13 January 2019

Debussy & Mozart Favourites

Pixels Ensemble

Debussy Cello Sonata
Mozart Flute Quartet in D K285
Debussy Sonata for flute, viola and harp
Françaix Quintet for flute, harp and string trio
Debussy Violin Sonata
Mozart Piano Quartet in G minor K478

This is a programme that ranges from the sensual to the sublime. It's performed by a versatile and flexible ensemble which includes some of the cream of London-based musicians.  

Marking the centenary of the death of Debussy, the music includes his three late sonatas in which the dying composer defiantly upheld the French tradition in time of war. These are contrasted with two Mozart favourites.

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25 November 2018

Beethoven Septet & Schubert Octet

Ensemble Mirage

Beethoven Septet in E flat op 20
Schubert Octet D803

Always on the look-out for the best of the new, we are delighted to bring to Oxford Ensemble Mirage. We can expect splendid performances of some of the most enjoyable music in the repertoire.  

Ensemble Mirage was founded by the clarinettist Matthew Scott and the violist Ugne Tiskute. In these pieces we will hear melody and the pungent timbres of wind and string instruments dancing and singing together, brought to us in all its freshness by these brilliant young musicians.

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11 November 2018

Tákacs String Quartet

Mozart Mendelssohn & Shostakovich

Mozart Quartet in G K387
Shostakovich Quartet no 4
Mendelssohn Quartet in F minor op 80

It's a fair bet that any lover of chamber music will list the Tákacs String Quartet  amongst the world's finest ensembles so we're proud to be able to include them in our 120th season, and with what a programme!  

This well-known Mozart quartet is another of those he dedicated to Haydn. Shostakovich's Fourth Quartet incorporates Jewish folk influences - it had to be hidden away until it was safe for performance. The Mendelssohn F minor Quartet journeys in a darker world than his audience expected but we now know it as his late masterpiece.

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7 October 2018

Mozart Beethoven & Szymanowski

Allegri String Quartet

Mozart Quartet in C major K465 Dissonance
Szymanowski Quartet no 2
Beethoven Quartet op 127

Founded in 1953 and over the years refreshed with the very best musicians, the Allegri has become an integral part of British musical life. Programmed are two of the greatest quartets in the repertoire, sandwiching a lesser known masterpiece of the 20th century. 

Mozart's Dissonance quartet, one of six dedicated to Haydn, is, after the brief 'dissonant' introduction, one of his most cheerful chamber works. Szymanowski's Second Quartet is a personal summing-up by a still underestimated master: the first of the three movements is highly impressionistic and the last two derived from Polish folk music. Beethoven' opus 127 is the first of his celebrated late quartets, a work of significance not only within that context but also in the ongoing development of the quartet oeuvre.

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