Kammermusik am Picassoplatz

This concert series gives musicians from the Sinfonieorchester Basel the chance to perform in chamber music ensembles, and offers you an exclusive opportunity to meet our musicians. Experience extraordinary programmes at the Picassoplatz rehearsal centre.

The details reveal what Antonín Dvořák intended with his String Quintet No. 2: to write an orchestral work using the resources of a string quintet. The inclusion of a double bass thus deviates from the standard practice, where a second cello or a second viola is usually added to the classical string quartet. The deepened bass foundation lends Dvořák’s Second Quintet orchestral dimensions. Although Dvořák had not yet achieved a breakthrough as a symphonist, he was, after all, working simultaneously on his Fifth Symphony whilst composing this piece. This is evidenced by a fifth movement that was deleted before printing, which Dvořák later reworked into an atmospheric Notturno for string orchestra.

Franz Schubert’s Quartet Movement complements Dvořák’s Quintet perfectly. With this work, the still-young composer sought to take his place among the great chamber musicians. The stormy C minor movement speaks to this intention, even if Schubert had not yet managed to write a full quartet here.