Overview

BEETHOVEN 2020

Among the most active Greek ensembles of recent years, and daring in their artistic choices, the Athens String Quartet are tackling works of great importance and profound symbolism: The Art of Fugue [Die Kunst der Fuge], Bach’s last and incomplete monothematic work; and Beethoven’s prophetic, six-movement String Quartet No. 13, Op. 130, with its original finale, the Great Fugue [Große Fuge]. Alfred Schnittke’s astounding String Quartet No. 3 serves as a connecting link between the two: a multistylistic work, with direct allusions to Bach and Beethoven’s Große Fuge, as well as to Dmitri Shostakovich, who carried the art of the string quartet into the 20th century. A challenging programme, featuring emblematic works of the 18th, 19th, and 20th century. 

– Johann Sebastian Bach: Die Kunst der Fuge: Subject and Contrapuncti 6, 4, 9
– Alfred Schnittke: String Quartet No. 3 
– Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat major, Op. 130
(Original version, with movement VI: ‘Große Fuge’)

The Athens String Quartet
 
Apollon Grammatikopoulos violin
Panagiotis Tziotis violin
Paris Anastasiadis viola
Isidoros Sideris cello