Philharmonics close-up

The art of composing music for the four string instruments together was fairly young, and the first violin was often front and centre, while the second violin, viola and cello played background sections. Haydn developed the genre by giving all four sections equal emphasis, and this inspired Mozart. The Hunt quartet is the fourth quartet in the collection, and the illustration of the hunting horn can clearly be heard in the first movement. When Mozart published a collection of six string quartets in 1785, it included a moving foreword praising colleague Joseph Haydn for his incredible string quartets.

British composer Doreen Carwithen wrote music for over 30 movies, as well as loads of orchestral music. She also composed two award-winning string quartets; the one in this programme was composed in 1948, when she was 26 years old.

The music is performed by members of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, who will also play La oración del torero ('The bullfighter's prayer') by Spanish composer Joaquín Torina , an example of the influence of folk music in Turina's compositions. Originally this was composed for laúd quartet, a modern folk lute.

Finally the String Quartet No 1 by Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, lyrical music where the influence of Beethoven is clearly apparent.