The Belcea Quartet, one of the world leading string quartets, was at the TCE to play last Sunday morning.
They had chosen 2 late works – by Bartók and Mendelssohn – which share several characteristics:
– they are both their Quartet No. 6
– they are both the last quartet they composed, even though the composers had plans for a #7
– they both relate to loss: the imminent loss of his mother and his homeland for Bartók, who could not stand the idea of his country being an ally of Nazi Germany and felt that war was unavoidable ; the loss of his sister Fanny for Mendelssohn – she was very supportive of her brother and a highly gifted pianist and composer in her own right.