Concert by Central European String Quartet Presented by Liszt Academy

The Central European String Quartet’s musicians Miranda Liu, Máté Soós, Győző Máté and Judit Szabó – each an accomplished virtuoso - come together as a string quartet with undeniable chemistry. Combined, they have performed with countless orchestras in Hungary and abroad, and in recital at the most important concert halls in the world. The CESQ’s work is marked by innovative projects and exciting programs. For example, in 2018, it announced its international composition competition, which attracted 75 applications from 27 different countries at its first edition. The quartet is committed to performing today's music and working with living composers. Numerous composers from around the globe apply for the opportunity to have their works premiered and performed by the venerable CESQ. Joseph Haydn's String Quartet in D major is one of his most famous pieces for string quartet. It was composed at a time in Haydn's career when he was turning to nationalism and folk songs for inspiration. The Lark is a particularly charming example of this trend, with its programmatic title and use of folk melodies to create different moods within the piece. The concert's second programme will feature the winning piece of the Central European String Quartet II International Composition Competition, Wires (2020) by the Italian composer Andrea Vanzo. László Tihanyi's Stills (2020), a work for the first string quartet, was dedicated to the ensemble. As he puts it in the piece's description, "I usually shy away from using 'classical' musical forms and genres, I don't feel it is my task to create in them if my musical imagination is bound rather than inspired by them." The work is not a "classical string quartet", however, in the sense that it does not follow the structural principles of a traditional string quartet, but rather takes musical inspirations from imagined situations and transforms them into movements. The concert will close with Zoltán Kodály's unique work, the 2nd String Quartet, which combines dissonance and rhythmic intensity with beautiful melodies to capture the tension between European folk music and modernism.