The Budapest Strings Chamber Orchestra & Máté Szűcs

Composers were mainly engaged in exploiting the opportunities inherent in the combination of string quartet and grand orchestra in the 20th century, although we do know of a few 19th century pieces, for example, the concerto for string quartet and orchestra by Louis Spohr. Edward Elgar’s work (Introduction and Allegro, completed in 1905), conceptualized as the ‘marriage’ of the Baroque concerto grosso and the Romantic symphonic poem, is the most special and interesting of them all. Schubert wrote his famous sonata for string guitar (arpeggione or guitare d’amour), a rarity at the time, which today is most commonly played on the viola or cello, with piano accompaniment. In the past few decades, the arrangement of the work for string orchestra has gained in popularity; and the Beethoven septet penned in his first creative period has enjoyed unbroken popularity since its world première.