Mozart String Quartet in E flat K428
Tippett String Quartet No.4
Tchaikovsky String Quartet in E flat minor Op.30

Rapidly emerging as a quartet with its own exciting and original voice, the Heath Quartet has already won first prize in the Tromp International Competition and second prize in the Haydn International Competition. Equally at home with classical and contemporary repertoire, the members are part of the Wigmore Hall’s Emerging Talent scheme, for which they plan to perform a complete Tippett cycle.

Mozart’s String Quartet in E flat is part of a set dedicated to Haydn, upon which he inscribed, ‘Here they are then, O great man and my dearest friend, these six children of mine‘. Tippett’s fourth String Quartet, premiered by The Lindsays in 1979, explores the journey of a human life through an unbroken sequence of movements. The structure mirrors that of Beethoven’s Op.131; Beethoven was Tippett’s compositional hero.

Tchaikovsky’s emotive Quartet in E flat minor was dedicated to the memory of his friend, violinist Ferdinand Laub. The searching expression of the first movement and grief of the third movement’s funeral march is contrasted by the cheerful second and life-affirming final movement.

Pre-concert Talk, 6.45pm
The Lindsays violinist Peter Cropper joins members of the Heath Quartet to discuss the journey they have been on whilst exploring the music of Tippett.