6. Sunday Matinée

The String Quintet No. 2 may well be the most contrasting work Brahms ever wrote for strings. This mature, highly exciting late work seems like a retrospective of an entire musical century. Brahms establishes a relationship with important composers of the 19th century. The themes of his quintet evoke memories of Richard Wagner, Johann Strauss, Beethoven and Mendelssohn.

The special feature of Antonín Dvořák’s String Quintet No. 3, which was influenced by his trip to America, is the synthesis of Irish and Scottish melodies, Czech folk music and Iroquois rhythms. It is the essence of the impressions Dvořák gathered on his travels through the USA. Here, even more than in his New World Symphony, he invents a new American music. It is performed by the BSOF String Quintet.