Wednesday 18 March 2026 7:30pm

Haydn – String quartet in C, op 33 no. 3, The Bird

Freya Waley-Cohen – String quartet

Beethoven – String quartet in A minor, op 132

The Sacconi Quartet, who have been part of the international musical scene for 25 years, captivating audiences with their unanimous and compelling ensemble, return to Ilkley for the fourth time with a programme anchored in the Viennese tradition but which also demonstrates their commitment to championing new work.

Haydn’s The Bird gets its names from the chirpings of the first violin in the first movement. The gentler middle movements, a hymn-like scherzo, with more bird-like games in the trio, and a serene adagio, give way to a manic final movement based on a folk dance with gypsy highlights. Some 40 years later, Beethoven, placed a hymn of thanksgiving for recovery from illness as the central section of his five-movement op 132, one of the major peaks of the string quartet repertoire.
Between these two, the Sacconi bring a work they have commissioned from Freya Waley-Cohen, a composer with a growing reputation and a particular affinity for stringed instruments. Her music has been described as ‘at once intimate and visionary’ and characterized by contrasts between the earthly and the otherworldly.