Simply Quartet

A terrible stroke of fate led the South African-born Priaulx Rainier to compose: After a serious car accident in the early 1930s, she was unable to continue her previously pursued career as a professional violinist and increasingly turned to composition. With her string quartet composed in 1939, which impressively captured the oppressive atmosphere of the "Age of Anxiety" (W. H. Auden) that began in Europe with Germany's invasion of Poland, the self-taught musician achieved her breakthrough in her adopted home of England. The award-winning Simply Quartet—one of the most exciting young string quartets of our time—contrasts Rainier's work with Franz Schubert's String Quartet No. 8 and Johannes Brahms' String Quartet No. 3, both of which share the key of B major. While Schubert's quartet is permeated by a brooding heaviness, Brahms' string quartet radiates a classical lightness.

Program
Franz Schubert // 1797-1828
String Quartet No. 8 in B major D 112 // 1814
Priaulx Rainier // 1903-1986
String Quartet // 1939
Johannes Brahms // 1833-1897
String Quartet No. 3 in B major op. 67 // 1875

Performers
Simply Quartet
Sueye Park | Violin
Antonia Rankersberger | Violin
Xiang Lyu | Viola
Ivan Valentin Hollup Roald | Cello