Treitler Quartet

Béla Bartók was both fascinated and influenced by his era. And his interest in folk music consistently gave him new impulses. But his music is always extremely Bartók-esque. The six string quartets span three decades and offer a panoramic view of his artistry. In the fifth quartet, he had also found a new approach with influences from older music, including Bach as a significant source of inspiration. The slow movements also feature the characteristic elements of “night music”. Ghostly dissonance and melancholy melodies are heard against a background of tones that occasionally resemble the sounds of nature.

Valborg Aulin was a prominent figure in Stockholm’s music scene in the late nineteenth century. With inspiration from France, she created a long line of superb songs and piano pieces. But her absolute best works are still the two string quartets.  Here, we will hear the young Swedish and highly acclaimed Treitler Quartet perform Aulin’s gracefully elegant and expressive Quartet in F-major.

Henri Dutilleux’s Ainsi la nuit is one of the most central works for string quartet of the twentieth century.  His subtly evocative melodic fragments call to mind a sense of night that piques the imagination, not at all unlike what we occasionally hear from Bartók.