String Quintets are divided into two principal types – those that add an extra cello to a quartet, and those that add an extra viola. This is the first of three concerts to survey all six Mozart String Quintets, all of which feature an extra viola, that most special of instruments to Mozart, who played it himself in quartets with his great friend Haydn.

Each programme, performed by the renowned Chilingirian Quartet, with violist Prunella Pacey, contrasts two Mozart quintets with other famous examples of the ‘viola’ quintet medium – this first one features Mendelssohn’s striking A major Quintet from the early 1830s.

Pre-Concert Foyer Performance – Arcus Quartet, 5.45pm

Programme:
Mendelssohn – String Quartet no 4 in E minor op 44 no 2

The Arcus Quartet is a dynamic string quartet from the Royal College of Music, London. Together, the members have performed in concert halls across the United Kingdom including Doddington Hall, Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall and the Carol Nash Recital Hall in Manchester as well as making their Wigmore Hall debut in March 2017 with their performance of Schubert’s Death and the Maiden.