Concert Program II:

Genius Proclaimed

More than any other work, the great Octet testifies to the miraculous precocity of the young Mendelssohn. Composed when Mendelssohn was only sixteen years old, the Octet was immediately recognized as a masterpiece and has held a hallowed place in the repertoire ever since. “Genius Proclaimed” prefaces the Octet with another youthful work, the graceful A Major String Quintet, as well as the early Op. 18 No. 6 String Quartet by Beethoven, who served as one of Mendelssohn’s lifelong artistic models. Beethoven’s groundbreaking Op. 18 quartets, with which the young firebrand from Bonn first announced himself to Vienna’s musical community, already pushed the boundaries of Classicism and predicted the Romantic age of Mendelssohn.

Program

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
String Quartet in B-flat Major, op. 18, no. 6 (1798–1800)

Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847)
String Quintet no. 1 in A Major, op. 18 (1826)
Octet for Strings in E-flat Major, op. 20 (1825)

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FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2009

Concert Program II
8:00 p.m., Menlo Park Presbyterian Church
Tickets: $50/$40 adult; $25/$10 student

Prelude Performance*
6:00 p.m., Menlo Park Presbyterian Church
Free Admission

Artists

St. Lawrence String Quartet
     Geoff Nuttall violin
     Scott St. John violin
     Lesley Robertson viola
     Christopher Costanza cello
Pacifica Quartet
     Simin Ganatra violin
     Sibbi Bernhardsson violin
     Masumi Per Rostad viola
     Brandon Vamos cello

*Learn more about Prelude Performances. »

More Festival Concert Programs:

Concert Program I »
Concert Program III »
Concert Program IV »
Concert Program V »