A week after Napoleon invades Russia, Ludwig van Beethoven almost certainly says “Yes,
tonight Josephine” to the love of his life, the unhappily married and recently jilted but
socially impossible match, Countess Jozefina Brunszvik. Three days later he pours forth - with
the pencil (!) he souvenired from the tryst - the 10 little pages of hopeless devotion that have spawned thousands of pages of academic speculation. He hastily concludes in order to make the next post, then scrunches them in his pocket for the rest of his life.

EPSG:4326

Beethoven's Eighth

Berry Uniting Church

Bowral Memorial Hall

National Gallery of Australia

Glasshouse Port Macquarie

Rathmines Theatre

City Recital Hall

Join the Australian Haydn Ensemble (AHE) for the fourth instalment of our dynamic new series of interactive lecture-recitals, 18th Century Unpacked — designed to deepen your connection with our mainstage touring programs.

In Haydn in London, we delve into one of the most remarkable chapters of the composer’s life — his celebrated visits to London in the 1790s. These were years of artistic triumph, creative freedom, and international fame. Haydn’s music dazzled audiences and shaped the future of the symphony.

18th Century Unpacked Haydn In London with Andrew Ford

State Library of New South Wales

David has carefully structured his selection according to key and timbre, and the esteemed Australian Haydn Ensemble have chosen instrumental movements by Felix Mendelssohn (at his most Schubertian!) to contrast or reinforce each song.

The movements date from the last tragic six months of Mendelssohn’s life, in which he battled both illness and bitter mourning for his sister Fanny. Published posthumously as Op. 81, the Andante, Scherzo, Capriccio and Fugue are strange and passionate stand-alone works that push into territory even more melancholy than his final quartet in F minor.

Schubert Songs with David Greco

Albert Hall Canberra

Much more than a lieder recital, this rare and beautiful concert features some of Schubert’s most darkly-hued songs, superbly delivered by David Greco’s mahogany bass-baritone, and intensified by rich and expressive string quartet accompaniments. David has carefully structured his selection according to key and timbre, and the esteemed Australian Haydn Ensemble have chosen instrumental movements by Felix Mendelssohn (at his most Schubertian!) to contrast or reinforce each song. The movements date from the last tragic six months of Mendelssohn’s life, in which he battled both illness and bitter mourning for his sister Fanny. Go on this wild and sad journey; when you come up for the autumnal Canberra air, you’ll never feel more alive. 

Schubert Lieder

Albert Hall

The AHE commence their season with two wonderful quartets that morph effortlessly from
the lofty to the lowbrow. Then Fanny Mendelssohn’s quartet, apparently the first ever composed by a woman, offers an elegant, if far from ladylike, riposte.

Haydn's Sunrise

Wesley Music Centre

Riverside Theatres

Sydney Opera House

State Library of NSW

Join the Australian Haydn Ensemble (AHE) for the first in an exciting new series of interactive lecture recitals, designed to deepen your connection with our mainstage touring programs.

Experience Haydn’s wit, innovation, and enduring legacy as we uncover the story of the Father of the String Quartet.

18th Century Unpacked - Haydn & The String Quartet

Leave your scarves at home. For their opening concert of 2026 the Ensemble have decided to bypass Autumn and Winter and let you balmily bathe in sublime sunshine.

Mozart's Spring

Beethoven, Mozart & Boccherini
How does that one go again? Neglected even amongst Beethoven’s even-numbered “B-side” symphonies, No. 4 in B flat can be a little slow to spring to mind, but once that effervescent first subject banishes the portent of the mock-gloomy introduction, the delights of this work come flooding back. Really remarkable passages abound-suspension, resolution, modulation, deliberate confounding of expectation to comic effect; “masterclass” is applicable, but it’s far too much fun for that. Besides rescuing a bassoonist from a fiendish solo in the finale, the Watts arrangement for flute and string sextet lends a filagree of clarity to a warm and witty work that will leave you beaming.

Beethoven's Fourth

ACO On The Pier

Composers hailing from the now proud Czech Republic were surprisingly numerous in the 18th century and, while far from household names today, had a significant impact on some that are. These Bohemians were neither the free’n’easy chums who kissed tiny frozen hands in garrets nor the future pictorial romantics devoted to the fields and forests of their homeland. No, these guys skipped down the steps of their provincial alma maters straight onto express carriages bound for Austria, Germany or Italy, and never looked back.

Matthew Greco

Events

Upcoming events

6 - 12 Mar, 2026

Mozart's Spring · Australian Haydn Ensemble

1 - 7 May, 2026

Beethoven's Fourth · Australian Haydn Ensemble

Jul 30 - Aug 2, 2026

Divine Bohemians · Australian Haydn Ensemble

Past events

Oct 30 - Nov 8, 2025

Beethoven's Eighth · Australian Haydn Ensemble

Aug 19, 2025

18th Century Unpacked Haydn In London with Andrew Ford · Australian Haydn Ensemble

Future and recently performed repertoire

Violin in String Quartet in E-flat Major by Mendelssohn-Hensel

Australian Haydn Ensemble

Violin in String Quartet in G major by Haydn

Australian Haydn Ensemble

Violin in Four Pieces for String Quartet by Mendelssohn

Australian Haydn Ensemble

Violin in String Quartet No. 1 by Beethoven

Australian Haydn Ensemble

Violin in String Quartet No. 3 in D Major by Beethoven

Australian Haydn Ensemble

Violin in String Quartet No. 14 in G major by Mozart

Australian Haydn Ensemble

Violin in String Quartet No. 4 by Haydn

Australian Haydn Ensemble

Violin in String Quartet by Schubert

Australian Haydn Ensemble

Violin in String Quartet in E flat Major by Mendelssohn

Australian Haydn Ensemble

Violin in String Sextet in F major by Boccherini

Australian Haydn Ensemble

Violin in String Sextet by Macens

Australian Haydn Ensemble

Violin in String Quartet Op. 76 No. 4 by Haydn

Australian Haydn Ensemble

Violin in String Quartet Op. 18, no. 1 by Beethoven

Australian Haydn Ensemble

Violin in String Quartet No. 3 by Haydn

Australian Haydn Ensemble

Violin in String Quintet in A minor by Boccherini

Australian Haydn Ensemble

Violin in String Quartet in G minor by Richter

Australian Haydn Ensemble

Violin in String Quartet No. 6 by Mysliveček

Australian Haydn Ensemble

Violin in String Quartet in D minor by Wranitzky

Australian Haydn Ensemble

About

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