Repertoire

Judith Weir: String Quartet No. 2 (“The Spaniard”) (2023) 15′ – National premiere
Felix Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 4 in E minor, Op. 44 No. 2 (1837) 27′

Artists

Leonkoro Quartet
Jonathan Schwarz, violin
Amelie Wallner, violin
Mayu Konoe, viola
Lukas Schwarz, cello

ProgramME

The Leonkoro Quartet, founded in Berlin in 2019, has received some of the world’s most prestigious awards. For their debut at the third Barcelona International Quartet Biennale, they have chosen Mendelssohn’s Quartet No. 4 as their centrepiece. It was written at one of the happiest times in the German composer’s life. At nearly thirty years old, he had just been appointed conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and had just got married. In fact, he composed it during his honeymoon. Maintaining a balanced, classical style, Mendelssohn infuses the four movements with vitality and passion. The programme is completed by the Spanish premiere of Scottish composer Judith Weir’s Quartet No. 2 “The Spaniard” (1954), which the Leonkoro Quartet presented at the last Aldeburgh Festival. “The Spaniard” was Beethoven’s nickname at his home in Bonn because of his physical features. And Beethoven is Weir’s favourite quartet composer.

Supported by: