SMITF Lunchtime Concert – Kyan Quartet

Experience a lunchtime escape with a captivating live performance by the acclaimed Kyan Quartet, in a programme featuring works by Mozart and Hensel.

Written approximately 50 years apart, both works demonstrate beautiful approaches to expression and musical character. Composed in 1783, Mozart’s Quartet in d minor was the second of a set of six string quartets that he eventually dedicated to Joseph Haydn, a major influence on Mozart’s development as a quartet composer. Fanny Hensel, an equally strong musical voice and an exceptional pianist, composed her quartet in 1834, during a time when the expectations placed on women meant that she did not have the same professional opportunities as her brother, Felix Mendelssohn. Nevertheless, Hensel continued to develop her own musical voice rather than simply following the conventional styles expected of her. Unlike Mozart’s quartet, Hensel’s was not published during her lifetime. It remained largely unknown for many years and was eventually published in 1988, long after her death in 1847. The Kyan Quartet are excited to bring these two composers together: works written under very different circumstances, yet both filled with such drama, expression, and character.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart –  Quartet No. 15 in d minor, Op. 10, “Haydn”, No. 2, K. 421
I. Allegro moderato
II. Andante
III. Menuetto. Allegro
IV. Allegro ma non troppo – Più allegro

Fanny Hensel –  Quartet in E-flat major, H.277
I. Adagio ma non troppo
II. Allegretto
III. Romanze
IV. Allegro molto vivace

Tickets available on the St Martin-in-the-Fields Website