Event 16: Ferdinand David Ensemble

Mendelssohn String Quintet in A major op. 18

Brahms String Quintet in G major op. 111

Clive Brown (violin) Ilias Devetzoglou (violin) David Milsom (viola) Duncan Druce (viola) Kate Haynes (‘cello)

Mendelssohn’s A major String Quintet was written in March 1826, between his celebrated Octet for strings and the Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It has all the youthful vitality and musical virtuosity of these two works. Before publication in 1833, however, he wrote a new, emotional slow movement under the impact of his friend, Eduard Rietz’s death. 

The Ensemble will play from the heavily annotated parts that belonged to Mendelssohn’s friend Ferdinand David, which also contain the composer’s extensive revisions to the slow movement. This material is included in the AHRC-funded research project CHASE (www.chase.leeds.ac.uk) on which members of the Ensemble have worked together during the past four years.

Tickets (including interval refreshments): £15, £10 adult concessions, £5 students and young people