Schwetzingen SWR Festival: Of Farewell and Goodbye

In the first matinee of the Schwetzingen SWR Festival 2026, the Bennewitz Quartet takes the audience on a journey of farewell and goodbye. How does one say goodbye to the world with 16 strings? Bedřich Smetana's second, Benjamin Britten's third, and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's sixth string quartets were all composed shortly before the deaths of their creators. They reflect on the past and speak of grief, illness, and parting. Smetana and Mendelssohn break down traditional genre conventions and formal models in their expressive works—the former going deaf, the latter shocked by the death of his sister; while the heart-sick Britten incorporates elements of his opera Death in Venice, which is based on Thomas Mann's novella of the same name. This too illuminates the process of a painful farewell to the world. All three quartets are considered unique, pushing boundaries or even transcending them. Strong contrasts emerge: there is symphonic experimentation in Mendelssohn, and a farewell to beauty in Britten. In this concert by the Czech Bennewitz Quartet, we might experience something akin to what Arnold Schönberg once felt with Smetana: in these highly expressive sounds, “a light truly dawned” on him.