The Cape Chamber Music Collective is excited to present the Odeion String Quartet (OSQ), performing string quartets by Mendelssohn and Hofmeyr.
The quartet was established at the University of the Free State in 1991 as a permanent, full-time resident string quartet, and is the only resident string quartet at a South African university. The OSQ plays an important strategic role in the development of symphony orchestra music and in classical music training in all communities in the Free State.
The quartet performs extensively both nationally and internationally and has a keen interest in contemporary South African composers, giving first performances of new works.
The quartet currently consists of Samson Diamond (first violinist), Sharon de Kock (second violinist), Jeanne-Louise Moolman (violist) and Anmari van der Westhuizen (cellist), who are all full-time music lecturers at UFS.
The programme comprises Hendrik Hormeyr Quartetto d’archi I (String Quartet no.1) and Felix Mendelssohn String Quartet No.2 in a minor op.13.
Hendrik Hofmeyr says that his String Quartet No.1 “is conceived, from a structural viewpoint, as a converging fan, with the disparate threads of the first three movements, respectively a contemplative canon, a jaunty march and an elegiac nocturne, being drawn together like elements in an alchemist’s furnace in the fiery rondo finale”.
Felix Mendelssohn wrote his minor String Quartet in 1827, a few months after the death of Beethoven. Mendelssohn was fascinated by Beethoven’s late quartets and studied them extensively. This influence of Beethoven is apparent in Mendelssohn’s use of cyclic formal organisation in this work.
This programme is the ninth offering by the CCMC this year in a series of concerts in and around Cape Town, including on Thursday November 10, at 7pm, at IS Gallery, Dorp Street, Stellenbosch.
Tickets are R200, pensioners R150 and students R100, including a free glass of wine.
They will perform on Friday November 11, at 7pm, at the Frank Pietersen Music Centre, 21 Sanddrift Street, Lemoenkloof, Paarl.
Tickets are R120 and R60 pensioners and students, including a free glass of wine.
There are an additional three performances during November, by these talented young musicians in the CCMC’s presentation of The Next Generation Artists. For more information go to www.capechambercollective.com
They will perform on Saturday November 26 at the Jazz and Classical Encounters Festival, Spier, outside Stellenbosch. This is an all-day event that includes performances of jazz and classical works – the ticket price is R475 for the full day; options for picnics are available, at Quicket.
Furthermore the CCMC supports local musicians, devising programmes that give young musicians the opportunity to perform alongside established professionals and also providing all performers with competitive fees.
The programming is aimed at mixing standard repertoire with lesser known works and also promotes and commissions works by South African composers.
For more information, visit www.capechambercollective.com
