Kristóf Baráti & Liszt Academy String Orchestra Presented by Liszt Academy

Although only strings feature in Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, they are not in the usual four- or five-part divisi: ordered into third groupings, the violins, violas and cellos confront each other; their ‘contest’ is accompanied by a continuo section made up of double bass and harpsichord. Mozart wrote his last violin concerto, which is a compulsory work in most orchestral rehearsals today, at the age of just 19. One of the episodes of the last movement is one of Mozart’s characteristic pieces of ‘Turkish’ music foreshadowing The Abduction from the Seraglio. Suk’s master, Dvořák, found his 18-year-old student to be overly engaged with gloomy music, which is why he encouraged him to write a lively piece. The resulting serenade is not only Suk’s most frequently performed piece but it is a significant work of the string orchestra repertoire.