Monday 23 November 2026 at 8.00pmSculthorpe: String Quartet No. 8
Mozart: String Quartet No. 21 in D Major, K.575
Lotta Wennäkoski: Culla d'aria
Grieg: String Quartet No. 1 in G minor Op. 27
The Karelia Quartet brings together musicians from Finland, Australia in the UK, and we are particularly drawn to programmes that reflect both our own backgrounds and the richness of the wider quartet tradition. For this programme, we were drawn to the way each work creates its own distinctive sense of place and voice. Peter Sculthorpe’s String Quartet No. 8 holds a special resonance for us, with two Australian members in the ensemble and a composer whose music evokes a profound connection to landscape and atmosphere. Lotta Wennäkoski’s Culla d’aria reflects another strand of the quartet’s identity: with two Finnish members, we are delighted to share the work of one of Finland’s most distinctive contemporary voices, whose shimmering textures seem to breathe and evolve in the air. Framing these works are two masterpieces of the quartet repertoire: Mozart’s String Quartet in D Major K.575, with its elegance, warmth and subtle invention, and Grieg’s First String Quartet, a work of extraordinary passion, lyricism and dramatic sweep. The programme moves between familiar masterpieces and contemporary perspectives, with each work shedding new light on the others.
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