String Quartets in the Diamond: Leonkoro Quartet (DE)

remove

Programme

Henriëtte Bosmans (1895-1952): String Quartet (1927)

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847): String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13 (1827)

Intermission

Franz Schubert (1797-1828): String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, D 810 (1824), "Death and the Maiden"

Leonkoro means lion heart in Esperanto. And it is precisely Astrid Lindgren's the Brothers Lion Heart that has given its name to this young quartet, which was founded by brothers Jonathan and Lukas Schwarz in 2019, and which is particularly on its way to the top. As in Lindgren's classic, the string quartet's repertoire often spans seriousness, death and the search for comfort, and these themes are certainly also to be found in tonight's programme.

About the programme

Henriëtte Bosmans did not get the opportunities her talent called for, because World War II also cast its darkness over the Netherlands. Her friend, the cellist Frieda Belinfante, who had fallen in love with her, many years later said of her “Jettie” that she was a person who took more than she gave; but during the war, when Bosmans was labeled a “Jewish case,” she gave more than she took. Like her friend (who joined the resistance movement), she did not flee – no, she stayed with her aging mother and continued to give concerts in secret. She survived the war, and in 1951 she was made a knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau. Her string quartet from 1927 is dedicated to her teacher, the composer Willem Pijper, and written on the occasion of his birthday.

Felix Mendelssohn's Second Piano Quartet is a declaration of love for two people; the woman he fell in love with in 1827, and the composer whose music inspired him most: Ludwig van Beethoven. 1827 was the year Beethoven died, and the musical language of Mendelssohn's quartet is inspired by his last string quartets.

Just a year later, the shy and life-weary Franz Schubert died, aged 31. His invaluable fourteenth string quartet, called Death and the Maiden, was written four years earlier, when he was already very ill, probably with syphilis. The last years of his life were marked by the illness, and although he despaired and lost all hope, he continued to compose – in fact, he composed as never before. Written by a man who had given up on both life and himself, the fourteenth string quartet nevertheless stands as one of the immortal chamber works in the history of music.