MINETTI QUARTETT III

“My strength has all gone, I’m old and I’m weak”: Joseph Haydn appended these words to the print of his final string quartet. But his words do not ring true. The principal founder of the quartet form shows that he could still command the heights, especially in his second quartet form Opus 77. Before his death in 1827, Ludwig van Beethoven was still thinking about his tenth symphony. But he was only able to complete his String Quartet in F major. György Kurtág’s 2003 work “Officium breve” is just under twelve minutes in duration and has fifteen movements. A distilled Requiem, it forms the link between these last two masterpieces.