Quartz: Langsamer

An ode to tender human emotions.

Acclaimed Melbourne string quartet Quartz are a confluence of Australian musical talent and world-class technique. Their exciting yet sensitive interpretations of great masterpieces of the string quartet repertoire are a delight to hear and much loved by audiences.

About the concert

Their performance in Primrose Potter Salon presents emotional works for the string quartet by Webern and Beethoven. Anton Webern’s utterly ravishing Langsamer Satz (Slow Movement) for string quartet was written when he was madly in love. Inspired by a hiking trip in the Austrian mountains with his future wife, the influence of Brahms in both romanticism and tonality are evident throughout. Referred to as ‘pure and exalted love music’, the emotions range from yearning to dramatic turmoil and finally, tranquility.

Beethoven’s string quartet Op.127 is the first of his legendary ‘late quartets’. It is an uncommonly tender and introverted work that exudes raw human emotion with spectacular control. The work embodies the stylistic traits of his final period of writing – sublime beauty, deeply intimate emotion, epic lengths and superhuman virtuosity. Beethoven’s final music is utterly transcendental.