Venue: Saint Nicholas' Collegiate Church, Lombard Street, H91 PY20, Galway
Date: 07 November 2023 at 1:10pm
Price: Entry to this concert is free, all are welcome. Donations gratefully accepted. Booking recommended.
Join us for our second to last Lunchtime with ConTempo of the year!
The performance takes place at 1:10pm on Tuesday 7 November in the stunning surroundings of St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church, Lombard Street, Galway.
ConTempo Quartet will perform the second of only two published string quartets from Johannes Brahms. The composer took the genre of the string quartet very seriously and it is rumoured that he destroyed more than 20 previous attempts before he allowed his Op. 51, containing string quartets no. 1 and no. 2, to be released to the world. He had great respect for the work that Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven had done in creating and evolving the genre and felt the weight of responsibility in adding his own contribution. In fact, he remarked of Beethoven "You can't have any idea what it's like always to hear such a giant marching behind you!". Though String Quartet no. 2, along with its sister, was received with respect but without too much enthusiasm, the pair of works certainly re-energised the genre and partly inspired the great string quartets of Schoenberg and Bartók.
The programme will also feature Da Pace Domine by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. The work is a universal prayer for peace originally composed for choir but later adapted for string quartet among other arrangements. In 2021 during a Covid Lockdown, the then Estonian Ambassador to Ireland Aino Lepik Von Wirén said of the piece: “In an unstable world with conflicts, threats and insecurities, this prayer gives us comfort and hope for a better future.” Join ConTempo Quartet on Tuesday or on Sunday 19 and let this music provide the balm we all need in the current climate.
ConTempo Quartet is the resident ensemble of Galway Music Residency and was RTE’s Resident Quartet from 2014 until 2019. Praised as a “fabulous foursome” (Irish Independent) and noted for performances which are “exceptional” (The Strad) and “full of imaginative daring” (The Irish Times), ConTempo Quartet has forged a unique place in Irish musical life.
Galway Music Residency is proudly supported by the Arts Council of Ireland, University of Galway (Education Partner), and Galway City and County Councils.
TICKETS ARE FREE BUT BOOKING IS RECOMMENDED - CLICK HERE TO BOOK