This programme is inspired by a world of romantic feelings: Brahms had been tinkering with the composition of a quintet since 1862 – at a time when he was continually fragile due to failures and said despondently: »When you go on 30 and feel weak like I do, you like to lock yourself up and look at the walls in your sadness«. Nevertheless, he became self-confident, exercised, learned Latin and felt, »I'm growing!« Moreover, the Hamburg-born composer moved to his adopted home of Vienna, where he lived near the Prater and could drink his wine »where Beethoven used to drink it«. In 1864, he finally finished the piano quintet, about which his soulmate Clara Schumann raved: »I feel after the work as if I had read a great tragic story.« The remarkable composition captivates with a plethora of original thoughts that are artfully developed – it is also filled with a profound seriousness in long parts. Elgar‘s moving piano quintet also bears witness to a similar state of mind: it was composed in 1918/19 at a time when his life was overshadowed by worries, illnesses, fears and the loss of loved ones in the wake of the horrors of war. Despite his great fame in London, the highly sensitive composer retreated to the countryside to find a break from the world's noise – to which he soon had nothing more to say in music: he wrote only a few works, such as the piano quintet. Even though it sounds at times belligerently agitated, a gloomy mood and a sheer overwhelming nostalgia spreads again and again as a witness to his broken soul – after all, he noted at the time: »Everything comforting and hopeful in my life is irretrievably over«.

Chamber concert: Piano quintet

Bamberg Concert Hall

In one of his novels, Jean Paul enthused: »I love the flute, the magic wand that changes the inner world whenever it touches it – a wish-rod in front of which the inner depths open up.« Our musicians present a small cosmos of works for flute and strings. Mozart wrote his charming flute quartet in 1777 on a commission from a music lover – although he was somewhat distracted because a young singer had made his head spin. Perhaps this is why the piece features an instrumental bravura aria, followed by a minor cantilena and a dance-like ending. It was said of Beethoven's chamber music that one »inevitably gets drawn into the master‘s magic circle, in which one sees more and more lines and figures that take hold of the soul so that one can't get rid of them again.« His C minor trio from 1798 shows fluttering states of mind: Sometimes it is melancholic, sometimes pathetic, then again reflective and suddenly whimsical. Since humour is just as much a balm for the soul, Haydn also liked to allow himself tongue-in-cheek experiments: In his magnificent divertimento of 1765, he celebrates birthdays musically. The Andante, explicitly entitled »Man and Woman«, is characterised by sighing figures in the high part and responses from the low register. Apart from that, the other instruments also join in the fun as children. Finally, a multifaceted composition by Jacques Castérède, who died in 2014: »Ombres et Clartes« captivates with touching melodies, is technically very challenging and revolves around changing moods – because as Tolstoy said: »All the variety, all the charm and all the beauty of life are formed by light and shadow.«

Chamber concert: Flute quartet

»Dance is the art that moves the human soul the most«. This is already what Plato was convinced of – and our chamber concert offers captivating sounds to support this. First, our musicians will feel the pulse from our Bohemian roots with a popular work: Dvořák was regarded as a musician who liked to play for the dance – he was also seen as an artist about which no-one could argue. His quintet op. 81, first performed in Prague in 1888, is a wonderful testament to this. It was composed during a happy period in his life and, according to an anecdote, by coincidence: Dvořák was digging for his first piano quintet op. 5, but couldn't find it and instead of searching much longer, he simply composed a new one – a supremely folkloric work for just five instruments as a burst of symphonic dimension. Then it‘s off right into the musical heart of Argentina and with it the diversity and depth of a genre about which it was once said: »The tango – that is two serious faces and four feet enjoying themselves.« It was Astor Piazzolla who turned the initially infamous dance of his homeland into »perfumed chamber music« for the concert hall, saying: »My music is for reflection and happiness.« Other Argentine composers have also dedicated themselves to this typical spirit in their works – for the tango stands for a rollercoaster of emotions: it is not only a celebration of colours and rhythms, but often full of sadness and melancholy. The effect of sensual expression and passionate energy was accentuated by the famous tango teacher Ricardo Vidort in just as philosophical words as Plato: »The tango is a therapy that liberates the soul!«

Chamber Concert: Argentine Tango

»Dance is the art that moves the human soul the most«. This is already what Plato was convinced of – and our chamber concert offers captivating sounds to support this. We'll dive right into the musical heart of Argentina and with it the diversity and depth of a genre about which it was once said: »The tango – that is two serious faces and four feet enjoying themselves.« It was Astor Piazzolla who turned the initially infamous dance of his homeland into »perfumed chamber music« for the concert hall, saying: »My music is for reflection and happiness.« Other Argentine composers have also dedicated themselves to this typical spirit in their works – for the tango stands for a rollercoaster of emotions: it is not only a celebration of colours and rhythms, but often full of sadness and melancholy. The effect of sensual expression and passionate energy was accentuated by the famous tango teacher Ricardo Vidort in just as philosophical words as Plato: »The tango is a therapy that liberates the soul!«

Tango Late Night

This will be an emotionally powerful chamber concert centred around works that are close to the hearts of our four orchestra musicians. One of the composers will be on the podium himself: Gabriele Campagna has been a member of the Bamberg Symphony since 2022, but the violinist is a multi-talented musician who not only plays several instruments, but also passionately composes. His »Three Pieces« for string quartet are brand new and exciting music. Janáček’s magnificent first string quartet is entitled »Kreutzer Sonata« after Tolstoy’s novella, also taking a bow to Beethoven’s work of the same name and, in his words, revolving around »a woman, desperate, grief-stricken, exhausted to death«. He composed it in just one week in 1923 with almost searing vigour, driven by his love for Kamila Stösslová, 38 years younger than him: »note for note« fell »into his pen, glowing«. As a wonderful interlude, there is composing women’s power: the exciting artist Caroline Shaw was explicitly inspired by Haydn’s outstanding last string quartet in 2011, from which she quotes and catapults the whole into the musical world of the 21st century with »ludicrous, delicate, colourful transitions« – until a fading cello solo symbolises only the »memory of fragments of an old melody«. Finally, the dramatic quartet sounds of Schubert’s famous piece from 1824, a year of sorrow for him. It took its thematic material and name from his song of the same name to a poem by Matthias Claudius – and the central variations follow the poetic dialogue between »Death and the Maiden«. A thoroughly harrowing work, but as Schubert once said encouragingly: »Whoever loves music can never be completely unhappy.«

Chamber concert: String quartet

Spiegelsaal Der Harmonie

Remarkable leaps and bounds for the chamber music playing that our orchestra members love: Borodin was actually a full-time chemist and physician, but his passion for music constantly rekindled, including from 1859 in Heidelberg – where he composed his romantic string sextet in D minor. Some time later, he returned to Russia and the work was lost. It did not turn up for almost 100 years until it was finally discovered in an antiquarian bookshop. And it may still be missing something, as it consists of just two movements – one of which seems to shimmer like Mendelssohn’s »Midsummer Night’s Dream« and the other is laced with folk songs from Borodin's homeland. Dvořák’s sextet, premiered in 1879, also bubbles along folkloristically, which has to do with its chronological proximity to his famous »Slavonic Dances« and emphasises his image as a »Bohemian musician«. Although this was only one aspect of his multifaceted personality, Dvořák loved the cheerful and colourful environment around him, where people liked to celebrate festivals. His work quickly became one of the classics of the genre – and also inspired Schönberg to write his string sextet »Verklärte Nacht« in 1899. It is based on a poem by Richard Dehmel, saying: »There is a glow around everything, you drift with me across a cold sea, but a warmth of your own flickers from you into me, from me into you.« Schönberg found a poetic voice here that reflected his aesthetic stance – and an impressive love story that defied the moral standards of the time. He created a late romantic musical world for this – and the composition is one of his most popular pieces of chamber music today.

Guilherme Nardelli Monegatto

Events

Upcoming events

Feb 23, 2025

Chamber concert: String quartet · Bamberger Symphoniker

Apr 27, 2025

Chamber concert: String sextet · Bamberger Symphoniker

Past events

May 6, 2024

Chamber concert: Piano quintet · Bamberger Symphoniker

Mar 5, 2024

Chamber concert: Flute quartet · Bamberger Symphoniker

Future and recently performed repertoire

Cello in Piano Quintet No. 2 by Dvořák

Bamberger Symphoniker

Cello in String Trio in C minor by Beethoven

Bamberger Symphoniker

Cello in Piano Quintet by Elgar

Bamberger Symphoniker

Cello in String Sextet by Dvořák

Bamberger Symphoniker

Cello in String Quartet No. 1 by Janáček

Bamberger Symphoniker

Cello in String Sextet in D minor by Borodin

Bamberger Symphoniker

Cello in String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor by Campagna

Bamberger Symphoniker

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