Engegård Quartet - with pre-concert talk

This programme is the Engegård Quartet in a nutshell! The four quartets build upon the four pillars of the Norwegian group’s creative life. Mozart’s K589 sets the stage, following their acclaimed recording of all Mozart’s quartets. Bartók’s quartets have been an integral part of the Quartet’s repertoire throughout the last season, and the compact Third String Quartet is one of their favourites. The Norwegian singer and composer Maja Ratkje wrote ‘A Tale of Lead and Light’ for the Engegård in 2011, and this music offers a glimpse both into the composer’s sense of fear and sorrow following the terror attacks in Oslo that summer, and the hope and comfort she found in composing this quartet. Finally, Fanny Mendelssohn’s gorgeous Quartet in E flat is something the Quartet have been wanting to programme for a long time. The Quartet is working towards a festival devoted to both Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn, 1-2-3 Mendelssohn, 8-10 November in Oslo.

Pre-concert talk with Robert Hugill - 5:30pm

In this talk we will explore three contrasting composers and works. Bartók’s Third String Quartet was his most adventurous so far and is one of his most tightly constructed works. Maja Ratkje is a contemporary Norwegian composer and vocalist who studied at IRCAM and with Louis Andriessen, Sofia Gubaidulina, and Kaija Saariaho. Descended on both sides from distinguished Jewish families, elder sister of Felix, Fanny Mendelssohn’s musical ambitions were limited by social conventions, yet she had as her role models two musical great aunts from influential Jewish families.