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Performers
- Pianoduo Scholtes & Janssens
- Lestari Scholtes piano
- Gwylim Janssens piano
- Animato Kwartet
- Inga Våga Gaustad violin
- Tim Brackman violin
- Elisa Karen Tavenier viola
- Pieter de Koe cello
Programme
- Gustav HolstThe Planets, Op. 32 (1914–16) — version for two pianos
- Interval
- Ludwig van BeethovenString Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132 (1825)
About this concert
A journey through the solar system
Can the planets influence our lives? For centuries, many have believed so. In 1489 the Florentine philosopher Marsilio Ficino even recommended singing songs that draw down the healing power of the sun and the planets: music as magic to restore the balance.
Gustav Holst fell under the spell of astrology around 1913. In The Planets he portrays Mars as the bringer of war, Venus as the bringer of peace, Jupiter as the bringer of jollity and Saturn as the bringer of old age. Mercury is the winged messenger, Uranus the magician and Neptune the mystic. He first wrote his masterpiece for two pianos and only later made the famous orchestral version. Piano Duo Scholtes & Janssens plays the original version.
In 1825 Beethoven fell ill. After his recovery he wrote his String Quartet Op. 132, with a “holy song of thanksgiving of a convalescent to the Deity, in the Lydian mode”. That ancient church mode gives the music a floating, timeless quality. The Animato Quartet, winner of the 2023 Kersjes Prize, plays this richly varied masterpiece, regarded as one of the summits of the quartet repertoire.