SSO Chamber Series: For the Emperor

Musicians of the SSO

HAYDN
String Quartet No. 3 in C major, Op. 76, Hob.III:77 “Emperor”

MOZART
String Quartet No. 22 in B-flat major, K. 589, Op. 18 No. 2 “Prussian”
String Quartet No. 23 in F major, K. 590, Op. 18 No. 3 “Prussian”

Two nights of string quartets fit for a king, by Haydn and Mozart, pinnacles of the Neo-Classical era. The central hymn from Haydn’s Emperor Quartet was the national anthem of Austria for a time, while Mozart’s Prussian Quartets, written with the Prussian King’s interest in the cello in mind, were published two weeks after his premature death. “If Mozart had written nothing but his violin quartets and the Requiem, they alone would have been sufficient to make him immortal.” - HAYDN