Bruckner, his pupil, Cyrill Hynais, and their works for a string quartet

Anton Bruckner's work for a string quartet dates entirely from his time as a student of Otto Kitzler. It consists of the Six Scherzos, sketched in spring 1862 for practice purposes, as well as the Theme with Variations in E flat major, sketched soon afterwards, and culminates in the four-movement String Quartet in C minor, to which a "Rondo in larger form" was added as an alternative final movement shortly after its completion in the summer of 1862. All of the pieces are preserved in the so-called Kitzler study record , which Bruckner compiled during his lessons with the Linz theatre conductor between 1861 and 1863.

While these student works by Bruckner can hardly stand comparison with his symphonies, his teaching methods, which were aimed at profound compositional craftsmanship, bore astonishing fruit in the form of excellent chamber music works by his pupils. An outstanding example of this is the String Quartet in E major by Cyrill Hynais, 'rediscovered' a few years ago in the Austrian National Library and now edited and published for the first time, who attended Bruckner's counterpoint classes at the Conservatory of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna from 1883 to 1885 and later became his close collaborator. This masterful work, completed in 1895, has recognisable characteristics of Bruckner's harmony and melody as well as echoes of Richard Wagner's musical language, but it never becomes unorignal nor does it lack an independent personal style.

The renowned, internationally acclaimed Quatuor Danel will present all of the great symphonist's contributions to the genre as well as the only string quartet by his pupil.

Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)

Six Scherzi for a string quartet, WAB 209, Nos. 1-6 (1862)

Theme with variations in E flat major for a string quartet, WAB 210 (1862)

String Quartet in C minor, WAB 111 (1862)

Rondo in C minor for a string quartet, WAB 208 (1862)

- Intermission -

Cyril Hynais (1862-1913)

String Quartet in E major (1895)

Quatuor Danel

Marc Danel | Violin

Gilles Millet | Violin

Vlad Bogdanas | Viola

Yovan Markovitch | Violoncello