UGA Presents welcomes the Brentano String Quartet to Ramsey Concert Hall on Sept. 27 at 3 p.m. for an afternoon of music by Ludwig van Beethoven and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The quartet’s first appearance at the University of Georgia in more than 20 years will explore works shaped by themes of tragedy, lamentation and mourning.
With a career spanning more than three decades, the Brentano String Quartet has established itself as one of the world’s preeminent chamber ensembles. Known for its probing interpretive style, distinctive musical sensibility and warm, lyrical sound, the quartet has performed at leading venues and festivals across five continents.
Their program opens with Beethoven’s String Quartet in F Major, Op. 18, No. 1. Composed in the late 1790s and published in 1801, the quartet represents Beethoven’s first major contribution to a musical form dominated by the examples of Haydn and Mozart. Although revolutionary to audiences of Beethoven’s time, the work’s melodic directness and energetic character make it an inviting introduction to his six Op. 18 quartets.
The quartet’s slow second movement is particularly remarkable. Beethoven reportedly told his friend, the violinist Ignaz Schuppanzigh, that he had composed it with the tomb scene from Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” in mind. The movement’s intense emotional character stands in striking contrast to the brisk humor of the following scherzo.
Mozart’s String Quartet in D Minor, K. 421 follows. One of six quartets Mozart dedicated to Haydn, the work is the only one in a minor key among Mozart’s final 10 string quartets. Its persistent D minor tonality, chromatic writing and emotional tension give the quartet an unusually dark and dramatic character. The music’s expressive intensity has led scholars to associate it with the early emergence of musical Romanticism.
The afternoon concludes with Beethoven’s String Quartet in F Major, Op. 59, No. 1, one of the three quartets Beethoven composed for Russian Count Andreas Kirillovich Rasumovsky. Written between 1804 and 1806, the quartet marked a dramatic expansion of Beethoven’s conception of the string quartet. The work is substantially larger in scale than the Op. 18 quartets, with expansive themes and an almost symphonic breadth.
Its deeply expressive third movement, marked Adagio molto e mesto, provides the emotional heart of the work. The finale incorporates a Russian theme, fulfilling Rasumovsky’s request that Beethoven include Russian folk melodies in the quartets. The Op. 59 quartets initially perplexed both performers and audiences, but Beethoven’s radical rethinking of the genre ultimately helped establish the string quartet as one of the most ambitious forms of musical expression.
This performance is supported by Patricia and Daniel Minkler, with additional support from the Hugh Hodgson School of Music’s UGA Chamber Music Society.
Three ways to get tickets
- Purchase tickets online at pac.uga.edu.
- Call the Performing Arts Center box office at 706-542-4400, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Visit the UGA Performing Arts Center box office, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Five-minute parking is available in the drop-off circle at the Performing Arts Center for purchasing or picking up tickets.)
UGA Presents single tickets start at just $30 with promo code PAC30, and UGA student tickets are $15. Audience members can create their own series of three or more performances for 10% off.
Information about accessibility and venue amenities is available on the PAC website. Parking is free.
To learn more about all UGA Performing Arts Center events, visit pac.uga.edu.