Darwin Beethoven Festival - Thursday May 27

Australian String Quartet

String Quartet in C minor, Op. 18 No. 4  

String Quartet in B-flat major, Op. 130  with Grosse Fuge, Op. 133

National treasures the Australian String Quartet open the chamber music stream of the Darwin Beethoven Festival with two remarkable quartets that illuminate the breadth of Beethoven's genius. From the dramatic intensity of the String Quartet in C minor, Op. 18 No. 4 to the visionary scale of the String Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 130 with Grosse Fuge, Op. 133, this program traces the composer's extraordinary artistic journey. The Australian String Quartet's performance of these landmark works frames Beethoven at both the beginning and the summit of his creative life. 

Written at the dawn of Beethoven's career, the Op. 18 quartets reveal a young composer eager to push beyond the achievements of Haydn and Mozart, already displaying the emotional depth and restless energy that would define his voice. At the other end of his creative life stands the monumental pairing of Op. 130 and the Grosse Fuge, Op. 133, a work of astonishing imagination that continues to challenge performers and audiences alike. Together these masterpieces reveal Beethoven at his most compelling: revolutionary, daring and endlessly inspiring.