Name: Arcadia
Start: 2024-05-15T20:15:00
Location: House of the History of the Federal Republic of Germany

Florian Donderer

Annette Walther

Xandi van Dijk

Thomas Schmitz

Beethoven Orchester Bonn

One of the most important German string quartets in the world is the guest ensemble in our chamber concert series, which is otherwise performed entirely by our own musicians. This concert with a guest ensemble is made possible by our cooperation with the Foundation House of History of the Federal Republic of Germany, which in recent years has brought us performances by the  Vision String Quartets  and most recently the  Azahar-Ensembles . 23 May 2024 marks the 75th anniversary of the ceremony in which the German Basic Law was signed in the Old Bundesrat – a good reason for events around the birth of the Federal Republic of Germany and its myths. The  Signum Quartett  has brought a program with it, the first part of which is dedicated to this theme: the melody of Joseph Haydn's  Kaiserhymne  did not become the official national anthem again until 1952 but nevertheless the »God Save Franz the Kaiser«, or, as we know it: “Unity and justice and freedom” is a symbol of the beginnings of our republic. The other compositions in this half of the program, which revolve around the theme of Arcadia, go back much further: That Greek land of legends and myths, where happy shepherds pursued a carefree life. Later generalized for a country in which all inhabitants would be happy … Whether this was the idea with which the mothers and fathers of the Basic Law set to work in autumn 1948 may be doubted – nevertheless, it is the function of music to conjure up dreams of other worlds.