British chamber music paired with a masterpiece of German Romanticism - in this concert, we bring together unjustly unknown pieces with rightfully famous ones. Brahms' Piano Quintet in F minor is part of the musical heritage, like Beethoven's symphonies, and is just as popular today as classics like the Fifth Symphony. On the other hand, Arnold Bax, the British composer born in 1883, was a star in his homeland during his lifetime but later almost fell into obscurity. He was never quite well-known here. However, he has written beautiful music! His First String Quartet is full of romantic melodies and captivates listeners immediately. Our Composer in Residence, James MacMillan, contributes another work from the island with his Second String Quartet, which even music critics rave about, describing it as a "captivating, powerful masterpiece" that captivates narratively and emotionally.

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Collenbusch with Brahms

Palace of Culture

How much personal life do composers allow to flow into their works? And can you hear it? The musicians of the Collenbusch Quartet have selected three works that are strongly influenced by the experiences of their creators. In the case of Polish composer Karol Szymanowski, it is the First World War, which he experienced on his parents' country estate in what is now Ukraine: In his string quartet, he looks back musically and into the future. Similarly, Shostakovich composed his Third String Quartet at the end of the Second World War. But not in a gloomy, tragic way, but rather in a darkly humorous way, in which he allows the pain to come across as almost musically light-footed. The Czech national composer Smetana had an inkling when he wrote his quartet that he would soon be deaf. In a way, the result is an autobiography in sound

Collenbusch Quartett

Nov 23, 2025

Collenbusch with Brahms

Jun 15, 2025

Collenbusch Quartett

Collenbusch Quartett