Pirosmani Quartet
Mairead Hickey violin
William Hagen violin
Georgy Kovalev viola
Ella van Poucke cello

Programme
Beethoven Quartet in D major Op.18 No.3 [1798]
Sean Doherty ‘Night piece’ [2020]
Brahms Quartet in A minor Op.51 No.2 [1873]

Cork violinist Mairéad Hickey leads a star-studded line-up of international musicians. Beethoven’s Op.18 No.3 was by some accounts his first string quartet and from its lyrical opening to its fleet-footed finale it carries the hallmarks of the master’s genius. We lost many of Brahms’ quartets through his obsessive self-censorship, but this magnificent A minor quartet is one of the three masterpieces that escaped his fireplace. Sean Doherty’s fine ‘Night Piece’ was written for Mairéad Hickey’s Ortus Festival in Cork in February 2020.

Presented by the NCH in association with the National String Quartet Foundation.