IS IT TRUE? (Ist es wahr?)

Felix Mendelssohn Pieces for String Quartet, Op. 81, No. 2 and 3

Andrew Ford String Quartet No. 6 Jointly commissioned for Flinders Quartet by David and Kaye Birks and Julian Burnside AO QC

Felix Mendelssohn String Quartet Op.13 in A minor

Mendelssohn was fascinated by Beethoven as a teenager and his Op. 13 string quartet draws on inspiration from this great master, as well as his own song Frage which asks the question “Ist es wahr?”. Fast forward to the 21st century Australia and we have Andrew Ford’s sixth string quartet - one movement of which bears the title Sunrise with Wedding Dresses and depicts refugee, Raghda sewing wedding dresses and full of desperate hope for her infant daughter. Pairing Ford and Mendelssohn brings 19th century Berlin right next to 21st century Melbourne. In fact, it does more than that: it reminds us that music represents a time, a place and marks history in the most extraordinarily pertinent way.

Violins Nicholas Waters & Wilma Smith
Viola Helen Ireland
Cello Zoe Knighton

PROGRAM NOTES

Concert Dates

WARRAGUL Saturday 27 October, 3.00pm
BALLARAT Sunday 28 October, 12.00pm
SOUTHBANK Thursday 8 November, 7.00pm
ELTHAM Sunday 11 November, 2.30pm
MELBOURNE* Tuesday 13 November, 1.00pm
BENDIGO Wednesday 14 November, 7.30pm

* Collins Street series (one-hour program)