Pavel Haas’ Second String Quartet is a programmatic suite, which he wrote after a trip to the Moravian Mountains, nicknamed the Monkey Mountains in Brno. Haas wrote: ‘This carefree work is driven by the impulse of movement – either the steady rhythm of the open landscape and the singing of birds, or the capricious rumbling of village carts, the warm pounding of the human heart, the cold play of moonlight, or the wild end of a tempestuous night.’
In Karl Amadeus Hartmann’s Kammerkonzert, which is inspired by Hungarian folk music, string orchestra, string quartet and clarinet fuse in an extraordinary sound experience. Béla Bartók goes gypsy, with a virtuoso role for Candida Thompson on violin in his Rhapsody. Thus Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Quatuor Danel and clarinettist Olivier Patey come together in a festival programme pur sang.
