Australian Haydn Ensemble Goes Hunting
“All the jolly chase is here
With hawk and horse and hunting-spear,
Hounds are in their couples yelling,
Hawks are whistling, horns are knelling…”
Hunting Song by Sir Walter Scott (1771 – 1832)
Those words encapsulate the theme of the next concert by the Australian Haydn Ensemble. Artistic Director Skye McIntosh is joined by Amy Power, oboe in this intimate chamber music program which intertwines quartets based on a fascination with music for the oboe – an instrument often associated with hunt.
‘La Chasse’ or ‘The Hunt’ was a popular theme of the 18th century. Haydn’s string quartet ‘La Chasse’ Op. 1 No. 1 was written as early as 1751. Its stunning adagio is a vision of how Haydn, the “Father of the String Quartet” would develop this genre.
Mozart’s Quartet K. 370, also nicknamed ‘The Hunt’, written some thirty years later, is the fourth quartet in a set of six he dedicated to the great master, Papa Haydn.
In 1780 Mozart visited Munich at the invitation of the Elector Karl Theodor, commissioner of his opera Idomeneo. Whilst there, Mozart reconnected with the virtuoso oboe player Friedrich Ramm and composed for him his oboe quartet taking the virtuosity of the instrument to new heights.
This program also features a beautiful and rarely heard oboe quartet by the German composer Janitsch, who spent much of his life in Berlin. His prolific output, of both chamber and larger symphonic works, is largely forgotten today.
Programme: HAYDN String Quartet ‘The Hunt’ Op. 1 No. 1 in B Flat major/ MOZART Oboe Quartet K. 370 in F major/ JANITSCH Oboe Quartet in G minor/ MOZART String Quartet ‘The Hunt’ K. 458 in B Flat major
