The Arcadian quartet & Ekaterina Chernyakova concert

Wed 19 February 2014

Hughes Hall

The Arcadian Quartet
The Arcadian Quartet was founded in February 2012. Currently, the violinists are Cangxiong Chen who is doing PhD in Mathematics and Johanna Finnemann, a PhD student in Psychology. Ramana Kumar, who is a PhD student in Computer Science, is the violist and Dankrad Feist who graduated in 2013 with a PhD in Physics plays cello. Ekaterina Chernyakova, a PhD student at the Faculty of Music, will be joining the quartet on the piano on this special occasion.
From the day of foundation, the quartet has brought together students who love playing and sharing chamber music and who are keen on bringing the quality of the ensemble to a higher level. The quartet made its debut at Hughes Hall on 22nd November 2012 at the Thanksgiving concert. Around the same time, the ensemble performed with Jeff Carpenter in his charity concert at the ADC Theatre in Cambridge. On the 10th of March 2013, a recital was given at the Master’s Lodge at Trinity Hall. The quartet also performed at the Gates Gala 2012, the Clare Hall May Ball 2013 and on the occasion of Professor Nicholas Manton’s birthday conference in September 2012. Apart from these recitals, the quartet has been known to provide music for weddings and other special occasions.

Schumann’s Piano Quintet
Robert Schumann composed the Piano Quintet in E-flat major, op. 44 in 1842. The quintet is considered one of Schumann’s finest compositions and a major work in 19th century chamber music. It was performed in public for the first time in 1843 when his wife Clare Schumann played the piano. Interestingly, Clare was due to perform the quintet at a private concert earlier on the 8th of December 1842. But she fell ill and Felix Mendelssohn had to step in. Not only did he sight read the intricate piano part, but he also came up with some suggestions for improvement after the concert, including adding a second trio to the third movement. The quintet was widely acclaimed at that time. However, Franz Liszt, having heard it performed at Schumann’s home, addressed it as “zu Leipzigerisch”, a reference to the conservative music of composers from Leipzig, especially Felix Mendelssohn.
Written for piano and string quartet, the quintet created a revolution in the instrumentation of a piano quintet. Prior to Schumann, a common setting was keyboard, violin, viola, cello and doublebass. By bringing together a piano and a string quartet, Schumann created new expressive possibilities in a piano quintet, allowing more intimate conversations between the instruments and a greater combined force of expression for the whole group.

The quintet consists of four movements:
1. Allegro brillante
2. In modo d'una marcia. Un poco largamente
3. Scherzo: Molto vivace
4. Allegro ma non troppo

Cost: free