Death and the Maiden

Mozart's G major Quartet KV 387 and Schubert's Death and the Maiden are two favourites in the string quartet genre. Mozart had met Haydn and was inspired to compose a set of six quartets. In the dedication to Haydn, Mozart wrote that the quartets were "the fruit of a long and laborious work", and added, "you renowned man and my dearest friend".

In his penultimate string quartet, Schubert employs the melody from one of his most famous songs, Death and the Maiden. The quartet contains both intensely fervent and dreamy passages. It is in the second movement that Schubert utilizes the poignant Death and the Maiden melody, which then serves as the basis for five variations. Here, Schubert's portrayal of death is by no means solely dark.

In between, we hear a newly written quartet by the acclaimed British composer Bushra El-Turk. The BBC named her one of the world's 100 most inspiring women. Her music sometimes reflects her Lebanese roots. During the creation of Three Tributes, she collaborated with the Dudok Quartet Amsterdam, whom we hear here.

This quartet, based in Amsterdam, is making their debut at Konserthuset Stockholm and has been praised for their empathetic playing in a repertoire ranging from the Renaissance to contemporary compositions.