About

Musique Royale is delighted to welcome the Eybler Quartet for their debut performance in Nova Scotia, at St Andrew’s Church in Halifax on Saturday September 14th at 7:00 pm. Celebrating their 20th anniversary this year, the Toronto-based Eybler Quartet brings razor-sharp ensemble skills, technical prowess, expertise in period instrument performance and an unquenchable passion for the repertoire. The group features violinists Julia Wedman and Patricia Ahern, violist Patrick G. Jordan (members of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra), and the superb cellist Margaret Gay.

Their program explores a wealth of voices from the earliest days of the string quartet repertoire. From the infectiously upbeat work of Johann Vanhal, one of the most popular and prolific composers in Vienna, to the toast of the Parisian salon audiences, Joseph Bologne, Le chevalier de Saint George, the musicians prepare a fresh context for the better known works on the program. Haydn’s Op. 20 quartets as a group were a landmark in the development of what today we call the Classical style, and the third of the group, in G minor is a stunningly expressive work. Mozart’s incredible Dissonance quartet shows both his mastery of the form and his debt to the older composer, through its dedication to Papa Haydn.

Program

• String Quartet Op. 6 No. 4 in G major (1771) - Johann Baptist Vanhal
• String Quartet Op. 14 No. 3 in G major (1774) - Joseph Bologne, Le chevalier de Saint George
• String Quartet op. 20 no. 3 in G minor (1772) - Joseph Haydn
• String Quartet in C major, K. 465 “Dissonance” (1785) - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

About the Eybler Quartet

The Eybler Quartet came together in late 2004 to explore the works of the first century and a half of the string quartet, with a healthy attention to lesser known composers such as their namesake, Joseph Leopold Edler von Eybler. The group brings a unique combination of talents and skills: razor-sharp ensemble skills, technical prowess, expertise in period instrument performance and an unquenchable passion for the repertoire. The Toronto-based ensemble’s live performances have consistently garnered praise as “glowing and committed”, “spirited” and “lively and energizing”. Their recording of Joseph Haydn’s Op. 33 String Quartets for the Analekta label was called “simply a treasure” by Early Music America, “the tempos are beautifully chosen, the ensemble perfect, and the intonation absolutely pure. This is music-making that reflects the deeply human and attractive qualities found in Haydn the composer—good humor, wit, and invention.” Their recording with clarinetist Jane Booth won praise from Gramophone for being “totally engaging performances that breathe life into Backofen’s music”. Their most, Beethoven Quartets, Opus 18 nos. 1-3 garnered this praise from Gramophone: “…the revelations flood in: the swiftness with which the Eyblers take the great Adagio of Op 18 No 1 allows violinist Aisslinn Nosky’s almost vibrato-free period-instrument tone to sound breathtakingly fragile.” Their next recording will be the world premiere of Franz Weiss’s String Quartets Op. 8, nos. 1-2, available soon.

Violinists Julia Wedman and Patricia Ahern, and violist Patrick G. Jordan are members of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. Cellist Margaret Gay is much in demand as both a modern and period instrument player. This summer the group will again be on the faculty at the Banff Centre as part of the EQ: Evolution of the String Quartet program.

In September 2022 Patricia Ahern joined the group, replacing founding member Aisslinn Nosky.

For more please visit: https://www.eyblerquartet.com/