Doric String Quartet

String Quartet

Sunday Concert

April 6, 2025, 4-5:30 PM

Livestream available / Online / In-Person

In-person tickets are sold out—join us online!

Members of The Phillips Collection at the Contemporaries ($500) or higher level receive complimentary access to the livestream of this concert. Register to access the livestream link.

Program

Joseph Haydn
Quartet in D Major, Op. 20, No. 4
I. Allegro moderato
II. Minuetto: Allegretto
III. Affettuoso e sostenuto
IV. Finale: Presto

Alban Berg
Lyric Suite, Op. 6
I. Allegretto gioviale
II. Andante amoroso
III. Allegro misterioso – Trio estatico
IV. Adagio appassionato
V. Presto delirando – Tenebroso
VI. Largo desolato

Ludwig van Beethoven
Quartet in F Major, Op. 135
I. Allegretto
II. Vivace
III. Lento assai, cantante e tranquillo
IV. Der schwer gefaßte Entschluß. Grave, ma non troppo tratto (Muss es sein?) – Allegro (Es muss sein!) – Grave, ma non troppo tratto – Allegro

Since winning first prize at the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition in 2008, the Doric String Quartet has steadily developed a reputation for their stimulating approach to the classical-period repertoire and their use of period-correct bows. Now in their 25th season, they are embarking on a Beethoven recording project that will culminate in 2027 with the 200th anniversary of the composer’s death. Their concert at the Phillips features Ludwig van Beethoven’s last string quartet, Op. 135, alongside Alban Berg’s Lyric Suite, Op. 6 and Joseph Haydn’s Quartet in D Major, Op. 20, No. 4.

This performance is made possible by generous underwriting support from Martha R. Johnston and Robert T. Coonrod.

The Doric String Quartet brings an elegance and intimacy both to the Classical canon and new music and as they go into their 25th anniversary this season, the players continue to deepen their interpretations and win fans across the world. Having performed cycles of Haydn, Mendelssohn, Britten and Bartók at famous venues around the world, including Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Vienna Konzerthaus and Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, this season they turn their attention to Beethoven, embarking on a recording project for Chandos, with the first instalment out this year, and culminating in 2026–27 with the 200th anniversary of the composer’s death.

Their intellectual rigour has led them to use specially made original-style bows for performing Classical repertoire from Haydn to Mendelssohn, and while they are known for their refined performances of this repertoire, they are also committed to new music, performing works by composers such as Peter Maxwell Davies and Donnacha Dennehy. In 2019 they gave the world premiere of Brett Dean’s String Quartet no.3, commissioned for them by Musica Viva Australia, Carnegie Hall, Edinburgh Festival, Berlin Konzerthaus, Amsterdam String Quartet Biennale and West Cork Chamber Music Festival.

The Doric String Quartet’s curiosity and flexibility are represented by a discography of more than 20 recordings for Chandos, with whom they have recorded exclusively since 2010, ranging from Purcell to John Adams. They are regular visitors at Snape Maltings and London’s Wigmore Hall, where they were the first group to perform to a live audience after lockdown. They make an annual tour of the US and visit Japan every other year, with venues including Suntory Hall.

They often perform repertoire for string quartet and orchestra, including Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro, and were invited to give the Austrian premiere of John Adams’ Absolute Jest for String Quartet and Orchestra at the Vienna Konzerthaus, with Adams conducting. They also gave the Dutch premiere with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic at the Concertgebouw under Markus Stenz, and have performed the piece with the BBC Scottish Symphony and BBC Symphony Orchestras. Their recording with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Peter Oundjian, released on Chandos in 2018, was named Recording of the Month in BBC Music Magazine and praised for its ‘sumptuous sweetness and laser-like clarity’.

As a group, they enjoy working with other musicians, such as Jonathan Bass, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Alina Ibragimova, Alexander Melnikov. They recently toured the US alongside Benjamin Grosvenor, worked with Cuarteto Quiroga and recorded Mendelssohn String Quintets with Timothy Ridout. This season they work with Tabea Zimmerman, Liza Ferschtman and Julius Drake.

Having themselves benefitted from coaching by groups such as the Hagen, Alban Berg, Artemis and LaSalle quartets, the group is keen to support young musicians and has been Teaching Quartet in Association at the Royal Academy of Music since 2015 and Artistic Directors of the Mendelssohn on Mull Festival since 2018.

Alex Redington plays on a violin made by Paulo Castello c.1770, Ying Xue on a violin by Giovanni Gabrielli from 1754, Hélène Clément plays a viola by Francesco Giussani from 1843, previously owned by Frank Bridge and Benjamin Britten and on generous loan from Britten-Pears Arts, and John Myerscough performs on a cello made by the Brothers Amati in 1587.