Castalian String Quartet

Photo©Paul Marc Mitchell

Since performing in their youth at one of our 'Music on a Summer Evening' events for Friends of the Society, the Castalian Quartet has risen to international recognition, winning multiple prizes and giving performances in the great concert halls of Europe and the USA, including for our own series in 2018.

Haydn's six Opus 20 quartets set the foundations for the future of the genre, and the G minor quartet shows his inventiveness and skill.  Thomas Adès wrote his first quartet, in seven short movements evoking vanishing 'idylls', in 1994 for the Endellion Quartet, whose final performance before retirement was in our 2019-20 series.  Beethoven's C major quartet was dedicated to Count Rasumovsky, and ends with a fast and furious fugue.