Chamber music
György Kurtág (1926)
Aus der Ferne III (1991)
Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga (1806-1826)
String Quartet No. 1 in D minor (1823)
György Kurtág
Aus der Ferne V (1999)
Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga
String Quartet No. 2 in L major (1823)
Pause
György Kurtág
Secreta: funeral music in memoriam László Dobszay (2011)
Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga
String Quartet No. 3 in E-flat major (1823)
On the occasion of the 200 anniversary of the Death of J. C. de Arriaga and the centenary of the Birth of G. Kurtág
Two Centenaries
The Quiroga Quartet, one of the great Spanish quartets, proposes a dialogue between two composers separated by two centuries yet united by the intensity and radical clarity of their writing. Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga, who died two hundred years ago at just twenty, left behind a remarkably mature body of work in which the string quartet holds a central place. His writing reveals formal poise, expressive transparency, and a confident command of the classical language inherited from Haydn and Mozart. In striking contrast stands György Kurtág, the Hungarian composer who celebrated his 100th birthday this past February. Kurtág’s music represents one of the most concentrated and distinctive explorations of the past century, marked by brevity, and expressive force. The program highlights a poignant symmetry: a life cut short and a century-long creative journey, both finding in the string quartet a privileged space for introspection and experimentation.
