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Presented by
Chiaroscuro Quartet
Alina Ibragimova, violin Benjamin Marquise Gilmore, violin*
Emilie Hörnlund, viola Claire Thirion, cello
Grand Hall, The University of Hong Kong
* In place of violinist Charlotte Saluste-Bridoux in both performances
1 MAR 2025 | SAT | 8PM
BEETHOVEN String Quartet No. 9 in C major, Op. 59, No. 3, 'Razumovsky'
Introduzione. Andante con moto – Allegro vivace
Andante con moto quasi allegretto
Menuetto grazioso
Allegro molto
- INTERMISSION -
SCHUBERT String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, D. 810, 'Death and the Maiden'
Allegro
Andante con moto
Scherzo. Allegro molto – Trio
Presto
2 MAR 2025 | SUN | 3PM
MOZART String Quartet No. 19 in C major, K. 465, 'Dissonance'
Adagio – Allegro
Andante cantabile
Menuetto. Allegro – Trio
Allegro molto
- INTERMISSION -
HAYDN The Seven Last Words of Christ, Op. 51, Hob. III: 50-56
Introduzione. Maestoso ed Adagio
Sonata I: Largo
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do
Pater, dimitte illis, quia nesciunt, quid faciunt
Sonata II: Grave e Cantabile
Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise
Hodie mecum eris in Paradiso
Sonata III: Grave
Woman, behold thy son
Mulier, ecce filius tuus
Sonata IV: Largo
My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Deus meus, Deus meus, utquid dereliquisti me?"
Sonata V: Adagio
I thirst
Sitio
Sonata VI: Lento
It is consummated
Consummatum est
Sonata VII: Largo
Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit
In manus tuas, Domine, commendo spiritum meum
Il terremoto: Presto e con tutta la forza
Chiaroscuro Quartet
Formed in 2005, Chiaroscuro Quartet comprises of violinists Alina Ibragimova and Charlotte Saluste-Bridoux, violist Emilie Hörnlund, and cellist Claire Thirion. Dubbed "a trailblazer for the authentic performance of High Classical chamber music" in Gramophone, this international ensemble performs music of the Classical and early Romantic periods on gut strings and with historical bows. The quartet's unique sound described in The Observer as "a shock to the ears of the best kind" is highly acclaimed by audiences and critics all over Europe.
Recent releases in their growing discography include Beethoven Opp. 74 and 130, Mozart 'Prussian' Quartets and Haydn Op. 33 (1-3), with future plans featuring the second volume of Haydn Op. 33 and Beethoven Razumovsky Quartets.
Among the ensemble's chamber music partners are renowned artists such as Kristian Bezuidenhout, Trevor Pinnock, Jonathan Cohen, Nicolas Baldeyrou, Chen Halevi, Malcolm Bilson, Matthew Hunt, Christian Poltera, Cédric Tiberghien, and Christophe Coin.
The 24-25 season sees them continue their regular appearances at Wigmore Hall London, and visits to the Boulez Saal Berlin, Laeiszhalle Hamburg, and Amsterdam Concertgebouw. They return to North America for a tour including Weill Hall (New York), Schubert Club (St Paul), the Philips Collection in Washington DC, and Menil Collection Houston.
Recent highlights have taken the ensemble on tour to Japan and the US, and to the Konzerthaus Vienna, Edinburgh International Festival, Beethoven Haus Bonn, and Salzburg Mozarteum.
Chiaroscuro Quartet are grateful to Jumpstart Jr Foundation for the kind loan of the 1570 Andrea Amati violin.
Alina Ibragimova, violin
Charlotte Saluste-Bridoux, violin
Emilie Hörnlund, viola Claire Thirion, cello
Benjamin
violin *
Marquise Gilmore
Benjamin Marquise Gilmore enjoys a busy life as an orchestral and chamber musician, joining the London Symphony Orchestra as Leader in August 2023. He was concertmaster of the Philharmonia Orchestra between 2019 and 2023, and has been a member of the Navarra Quartet since 2021. He is also a member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and from 2016 to 2019 was leader of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, to which he continues to return as guest leader and director. A lover of opera, he is also a frequent guest concertmaster with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House.
Benjamin studied with Natalia Boyarskaya at the Yehudi Menuhin School and with Pavel Vernikov in Vienna, and received further guidance and inspiration from Julian Rachlin and Miriam Fried. He won prizes at the Oskar Back, Joseph Joachim, and Salzburg Mozart competitions, and has participated in festivals such as Kuhmo, Prussia Cove, and Ravinia.
Benjamin's father is the musicologist Bob Gilmore, his grandfather is the conductor Lev Markiz, and his mother Maria Markiz has variously been a musicologist, interpreter, equestrian, and data analyst. He is married to Hannah Shaw, a violist, and enjoys cooking and cycling, in both of which disciplines he makes up in enthusiasm what he lacks in proficiency.
* In place of violinist Charlotte Saluste-Bridoux in both performances
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
String Quartet No. 9 in C major, Op. 59, No. 3, 'Razumovsky'
Commissioned by the Russian ambassador Count Andrey Kirillovich Razumovsky (1752–1836) in 1805, the 'Razumovsky' string quartets were ahead of their time. Beethoven's contemporaries, performers and listeners alike, were puzzled by their structural, tonal and technical complexity, describing the set in such terms as "crazy" (verrückte) and "botched work" (flickwerk). Clearly having a future audience like us in mind, Beethoven simply responded, "They are not for you, they are for a later age."
Among the three quartets, the third one was the most well received. In the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung on 27 February 1807, a reviewer commented that the three quartets were "deeply thought through and well worked out, but not comprehensible to everyone, with the exception of the last, in C major, which in its idiosyncrasies, melody, and harmonic strength must win the approval of every seasoned friend of music." It was included in the programme of the Schuppanzigh Quartet's farewell concert on 11 February in 1816 before Ignaz Schuppanzigh (1776–1830) left Vienna for Russia. Musicologist Nancy November suggests that the inclusion shows the positive early reception of the C major quartet. That could also be an act of homage to Razumovsky.
Razumovsky was a music enthusiast and a dedicated patron of the Schuppanzigh Quartet from 1808 to 1814, a period of political and economic turmoil due to the Napoleonic Wars and French occupation. On 31 December 1814, a fire broke out in Razumovsky's palace, destroying a great deal of his beloved artworks along with his magnificent palace. After the unfortunate incident, the count retreated from social life and ceased his patronage of the Quartet.
In honour of the Russian count and in response to his request, Beethoven uses Russian music that he labelled as 'Thème russe' in the first two pieces of the 1806 quartets (Op. 59). Although there is no 'Thème russe' in the third piece, the second theme of the slow movement, entering like a fleeting light of hope amidst a melancholic lament, is characterised by the flavour of Russian folk music. The slow introduction of the first movement, which features tonal ambiguity and sustained dissonances, is reminiscent of the introduction of Mozart's 'Dissonance' quartet, K. 465. But unlike Mozart's quartet, the dissonance in Beethoven's introduction is not firmly resolved in the Allegro vivace, for it begins on the weak beat. Despite this initial impediment, the music continues its journey of struggle, at times uncertain, at times exuberant with an orchestral-like tutti, at last reaching its triumphant moment with the fugal finale, a perpetuum mobile fueled with inexhaustible energy.
FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797-1828)
String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, D. 810, 'Death and the Maiden'
In 1824, with a quartet bearing the same name and key with as one of his previous songs, Schubert revisited the theme of death while confronting his own demise. In early 1823, the composer started to suffer from serious illness widely believed to be syphilis and was housebound for some time. A glimpse of Schubert's torment can be found in his letter on 31 March 1824 to his friend, the Austrian painter Leopold Kupelwieser (1796–1862): "feel myself to be the most unhappy and wretched creature in the world. Imagine a man whose health will never be right again, a man whose most brilliant hopes have perished, to whom love and friendship have nothing to offer but pain, whose enthusiasm for all things beautiful is gone, and I ask you, is he not a miserable, unhappy being? Each night, on retiring to bed, I hope I may not wake again [emphasis added], and each morning but recalls yesterday's grief." It seems that Schubert was longing for a comfortable death that would release him from the perpetual pain and distress inflicted by his irrecoverable disease.
Death as a state of liberating stillness is a familiar subject in Schubert's Lieder. In 'Death and the Maiden' (D. 531) and the 'Erlking' (D. 328), both composed before Schubert contracted syphilis, death is personified and imagined to possess its own subjectivity. Rather than having a menacing appearance, it presents itself as bringing forth repose, luring and calming the fearful victims with a soothing voice singing in major keys. This paradoxical depiction of death as both dreadful and peaceful can be found throughout the D minor quartet. In the first movement, the Sturm und Drang passages that portray the psychological turmoil in facing death are interspersed with brief lyrical moments. The second movement is a theme and variation of the song 'Death and the Maiden', but the voice of the frightened maiden is omitted, retaining only the sombre and calm funeral march that opens the song and accompanies the voice of death. The theme, beginning in G minor and ending in G major, goes through a wide range of emotions in its variations. The Scherzo is a danse macabre with a beautiful minuet as the trio. The finale is a Tarantella, an Italian dance said to cure hysteria caused by fatal spider bites. But as the fearful protagonist is escaping in galloping quavers, the enticing melody of death in the 'Erlking' arises. The chase gets even more frantic in the Prestissimo, which ends with two forceful chords, seemingly asserting the triumph of death.
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756-1791)
String Quartet No. 19 in C major, K. 465, 'Dissonance'
In 1782, Mozart returned to the string quartet after a long absence from the genre since 1773. Between 1782 to 1785, he composed a set of six quartets, dedicating them to Joseph Haydn (1732–1809) with a letter that shows his reverence for his friend and teacher: "A father who had decided to send his sons out into the great world thought it his duty to entrust them to the protection and guidance of a man who was very celebrated at the time, and who happened moreover to be his best friend. In the same way I send my six sons to you... Please, then, receive them kindly and be to them a father, guide, and friend!"
Although there is no direct evidence, it is likely that Mozart's 1782 'Haydn' quartets were inspired by Haydn's Op. 33 string quartets written in 1781. We can see striking similarities between the opening of Haydn's Op. 33, No. 4 and Mozart's K. 458, the fourth quartet of the set. One thing that could be certain is that Mozart is a great admirer of Haydn's music. His admiration even extends to Haydn's pupil Ignaz Pleyel, whose music bears a trace of his teacher's influence. In commenting on a set of string quartets written by Ignaz Pleyel in 1784, Mozart wrote to his father on 24 April that year: "Some quartets have just come out by a certain Pleyel, a pupil of Joseph Haydn... They are well written and very pleasant. You will immediately recognise who his teacher was."
K. 465 is the sixth piece of the 'Haydn' quartets. Unlike Mozart's early string quartets, in which the lower parts largely serve as harmonic filler, his later quartets endue the four parts with more equal importance, as best exemplified by the contrapuntal Adagio introduction, which gives the piece its nickname with its poignant suspensions and chromaticism. The C major key is not firmly established until the dominant chord closing the introduction is resolved to the tonic chord opening the light-hearted Allegro. The Andante cantabile has a sarabande-like character in terms of melody and rhythm. As noted by Daniel Heartz, its theme alludes to a terzetto in Act II Mozart's opera Idomeneo (1781), where Idamante is saying farewell to his father. The Trio in C minor provides a contrast with the lilting minuet. The agitation engendered by the repeated crotchet chords is intensified by the rigorous tremolos and repetitive quavers in the finale, which closes the music with a Haydnesque play of dynamic contrast.
JOSEPH HAYDN (1732-1809)
The Seven Last Words of Christ , Op. 51, Hob. III: 50-56
In 1786, Haydn was commissioned by the bishop of Cádiz Cathedral in Spain to compose an orchestral work to accompany the Good Friday service, which commemorates the sacrifice and suffering of Jesus Christ in his crucifixion. The difficulty of writing the piece can be glimpsed from Haydn's preface to the 1801 edition published by Breitkopf & Härtel: "The bishop then in like manner pronounced the second word, then the third, and so on, the orchestra following on the conclusion of each discourse. My composition was subject to these conditions, and it was no easy task to compose seven adagios lasting ten minutes each, and to succeed one another without fatiguing the listeners; indeed, I found it quite impossible to confine myself to the appointed limits."
The work comprises seven movements framed by a tragic introduction and a furious conclusion. The seven movements, which are all labelled as Sonatas, correspond respectively to seven utterances of Jesus on the cross, quoted from the four Gospels. During the service, each movement was played after the bishop proclaimed the corresponding word and the accompanying message.
In his last words, Jesus first asked God to forgive those who persecuted him, showing his generosity and love for people (Sonata I). He then assured his apostles that they would go to heaven together with him (Sonata II). To one of his apostles, John, he entrusted his mother, Mary (Sonatas III). As his pain intensified, he cried desperately to God (Sonata IV) and expressed his suffering (Sonata V), proclaiming that he had completed all his missions on Earth healing the sick, feeding the hungry, casting out demons (Sonata VI). At last, he entrusted himself to God (Sonata VII). Upon the death of Jesus, earthquake occurred, stones were broken, and the temple veil that symbolised man's sin, which separated them from God, was torn apart from top to bottom. Through Jesus' sacrificial death, man's sin was atoned, and the path to God was opened.
Programme notes by Sheryl Chow
MPhil in Musicology, HKU PhD in Musicology, Princeton University
