Daniel Chong, violin | Ken Hamao, violin | Jessica Bodner, viola | Kee-Hyun Kim, cello

Beethoven String Quartet No. 9 in C Major, Op. 59 No. 3

1st Movement Intro: Dissonance and harmonic instability create an atmosphere of psychological tension.
1st Movement (Allegro): Constructed from one motive. Exemplifies Beethoven’s “I will take fate by the throat”: Inexorable, positive strength overcoming adversity (the intro).
2nd Movement: Unlike the other two “Razumovsky” quartets, No. 3 lacks a direct quote of a Russian melody, but the movement is Russian in feeling.
3rd Movement: A lilting Menuetto contrasts with a boisterous, virtuosic trio. A coda of mystery and instability serves as a bridge to the Finale.
4th Movement: A virtuoso, life-affirming perpetual motion.

About

Parker Quartet

Internationally recognized for their “fearless, yet probingly beautiful” (The Strad) performances, the Grammy Award-winning Parker Quartet has distinguished itself as…

Cellowisdom

“What a humiliation when one stood beside me and heard a flute and I heard nothing... I would have put an end to my life – it seemed impossible to leave the world until I had produced all that I felt called upon to produce, and so I endured this wretched existence.”

— Ludwig van Beethoven