As I was searching for a performance to attend for my concert review under The New York Times classical concert list, what stood out to me was a string quartet performance by a group called Quator Mosaiques at the 92nd Street Y. Since I am currently taking Harmony 2, I thought this particular concert would be very helpful for me to observe for the very reason that I was working on composing my own string quartet.
Formed in 1985, Quator Mosaiques is formed by four talented individuals: from Austria, violinists Erich Hobarth & Andrea Bischof, violist Anita and from France, and Christophe Coin on the cello. As noted on the program and on various online resources, The Quatuor Mosaiques is known as “the most prominent period-instrumental quartet performing today.” This particular string quartet ensemble uses gut-stringed instruments, for which it receives many praises towards the group’s “unique sound”. What I found to be extremely interesting was finding out this performance was the return of this ensemble to North America after 10 years.
The performance took place in the Kaufman Concert Hall at the 92nd Street Y. The concert hall was fairly full, about 95% of the seats were filled. I couldn’t help but notice that I was probably one of the very few younger audiences attending this performance. The program consisted of 3 string quartet works. Starting with Franz Joseph Haydn, String Quartet in B-flat major, Op.76, No.4, “Sunrise” followed by Felix Mendelssohn, String Quartet in A minor, Op.13 and to wrap it up, Franz Schubert, String Quartet in A minor, D.804, “Rosamunde”.
From the three performances, my favorite was Felix Mendelssohn, String Quartet in A minor, Op.13. Already knowing that Mendelssohn created this String Quartet at such a young age was the main reason why I looked forward to listening to this piece the most. Mendelssohn created this amazing composition at the mere age of 18. To be so young and have this amazing talent to create music that went down in history is unbelievable. I have my uncertainties in possibly creating such a wonderful string quartet, but it was indeed very inspiring and motivated me to have fun with crafting my own string quartet.
Personally, I’ve found every string quartet that I have thus far attended absolutely amazing, especially this one. Translated, the name of the group means, Quartet Mosaic—a more than fitting name for a group that was truly colorful and beautiful to watch and listen to.
