Dante Summer Festival - Beethoven meets Shostakovich

7.30pm,

St Mary Magdalene Church, Launceston

BEETHOVEN MEETS SHOSTAKOVICH

Brodsky Quartet

Borodin – Scherzo
Beethoven – Quartet in F, op 135
Shostakovich – Quartet no. 14 in F#, op 142
Khatchaturian – Sabre Dance (arr. Brodsky Quartet)

In the ancient grandeur of St Mary Magdalene Church, two fascinating quartets, both written near the end of the composers’ lives. Dedicated to his great friend the cellist Shirinsky, Shostakovich’s fourteenth quartet opens with a lively dance which gradually expands into an ecstatic aria for the cello. Beethoven begins his final quartet with an animated conversation between the four instrumentalists – what are they discussing? – while in the slow movement, with its heartbreakingly beautiful theme, he seems to bid a loving farewell to the world. We finish with a high-energy workout in Khatchaturian’s famous Sabre Dance.

Tickets £18, including the pre-concert talk; under-16’s free