In our first program for 2019, Artistic Director and violinist Skye McIntosh and the AHE quartet explore Haydn and nature. The Ensemble perform three of Haydn’s beloved string quartets, Sunrise, The Bird and The Lark .

In The Lark, Haydn masterfully weaves the first violin part in joyous birdsong-like melodies that fly above the other instruments. The work finishes with a fiendishly difficult moto perpetuo. This is followed by Haydn’s delightful and playfully chirpy string quartet The Bird.

At the heart of the program are selections from Haydn’s famous oratorio, The Creation.  The Ensemble presents movements from an historical string quartet arrangements from the eighteenth century. 

One of Haydn’s indisputable works of genius, the String Quartet Op. 76 No. 4 (Sunrise) closes the program. Although it was not nicknamed by Haydn himself, the opening bars of the quartet clearly evoke the image of daybreak.

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PROGRAM

Haydn String Quartet in D major The Lark Op. 64 No. 5

Haydn String Quartet in C Major The Bird Op. 33. No. 3

Haydn The Creation for string quartet (selections) arr. Anon.

Haydn String Quartet in B flat major Sunrise Op. 76 No. 4