A QUARTET that left an audience spellbound back in 2018 makes a welcome return to Newton Abbot this weekend

The Arcadia String Quartet have been invited back by Newton Abbot and District Society of Arts to perform a part of its 75th anniversary concert season with a programme that will include works by Schubert, Janacek and Mendelssohn, the Janacek by special request from member sponsors, Ruth and Peter Lowe.

Schubert’s ‘Quartettsatz’, composed in 1820 when he was twenty three, was the first movement, Allegro assai, of a string quartet he was never to complete.

It’s often regarded as the first of his mature works; indeed, it’s a ‘masterpiece of true genius’. Lying fallow until long after his death, the manuscript was eventually edited and published by Brahms in 1870.

In contrast with Schubert and Mendelssohn, Janacek was no child prodigy. Indeed, his main flowering took place in his 60’s and 70’s.

His first string quartet, entitled ‘Kreutzer Sonata’ inspired by Tolstoy’s novella of the same name, was written in 1923 when he was 69.

It was a time of great creative concentration for the composer. This passionate work, some say almost a wordless opera, takes the listener through a whole range of powerful emotions including fever, jealousy, regret and reckless despair.

Mendelssohn composed his String Quartet No 6 in F minor, Op 80 in 1847. It was the last major piece he completed before he died two months later on 4 November.

He wrote the piece as a homage to his sister Fanny who had died on 14 May of that year, and it bore the title Requiem for Fanny.

It is not out of bounds to say that he died of grief for his sister.

Winners of a number of prestigious international competitions, the Arcadia Quartet have performed around the world to great acclaim and it is a wonderful opportunity to hear them play again in Newton Abbot.

The concert takes place Sunday, November 21at 3pm in the Courtenay Centre, Newton Abbot.

As audience numbers will be limited to allow social distancing, early booking is strongly advised. All tickets must be booked in advance through the website: www.nadsa.co.uk