NOVO Quartet I
Jüri Reinvere's Four Quartets 1. & 2.
& Beethoven's String Quartet no. 14
The new and the timeless at Troldhaugen.
‘What is left for us to write?’ Franz Schubert reportedly exclaimed after his dying wish to hear Beethoven’s String Quartet no. 14 was fulfilled. For 200 years, the deaf composer’s late string quartets have fascinated artists and audiences with their complex structures, innovative forms and philosophical depth.
A slow fugue sets a monumental journey in motion, reaching far beyond the conventions of the genre and into the recesses of the human mind. Connections to Beethoven’s masterpiece Missa solemnis add to the work’s spiritual atmosphere and existential weight, lingering long after the final notes have faded.
Beethoven admirer T. S. Eliot sought to recreate the qualities of the late string quartets in his own poetry. As the Second World War threatened to tear civilisation apart, he wrote Four Quartets, a cycle of poems that celebrates life, the seasons and the elements while confronting fundamental questions of existence.
Eliot’s poems directly inspired Estonian composer Jüri Reinvere, who wrote his own Four Quartets between 2011 and 2024. Poetry and music, words and quartet come together as Reinvere combines his own poems with his colourful and sonorous musical language.
Like Eliot, Reinvere connects each quartet to a physical place. In the first, recordings from the maternity ward of Tallinn Central Hospital create a striking contrast between art and reality. The second takes us to Piazza Santo Spirito in Florence, setting the scene for a meditation on faith, art and the act of creation.
The following evening, NOVO Quartet performs the third and fourth quartets in the same hall.
Bus to Troldsalen
Reserve a free seat on the bus to Troldsalen when purchasing your concert ticket. The bus departs one hour before the concert starts from the Tourist Information Centre, Strandkaien 3 in Bergen city centre, and returns to the city centre after the concert.
Contributors
NOVO Quartet
Kaya Kato Møller violin
Nikolai Vasili Nedergaard violin
Daniel Śledziński viola
Signe Ebstrup Bitsch cello
Works
Jüri Reinvere (1971–)
From Neli kvartetti. Four quartets
1. Keskhaigla. Central Hospital
2. Piazza di Santo SpiritoInterval
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
String Quartet no. 14 in C sharp minor, op. 131
1. Adagio ma non troppo e molto espressivo
2. Allegro molto vivace
3. Allegro moderato
4. Andante ma non troppo e molto cantabile
5. Presto
6. Adagio quasi un poco andante
7. Allegro
Supported by
More concerts at Troldhaugen
NOVO Quartet II
Jüri Reinvere's Four Quartets 3. & 4. & Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor for piano and string quartet
Quartet poetry and Grieg’s A minor in a new light.
Christina Nilsson
with Magnus Svensson
Swedish star soprano in an intimate evening of lieder at Troldhaugen.
