[Voces Intimae]

© Veerle Vercauteren

Samuel Barber: String quartet in b minor, opus 11; II. Adagio
Jean Sibelius: String quartet in d minor, opus 56 ‘Voces Intimae’
Ludwig van Beethoven: String quartet nr. 11 in f minor, opus 95: I.Allegro con brio
Frank Nuyts: Comeback Quartet; movement I
Peteris Vasks: String quartet nr. 4; V. Meditation

Voces Intimae – literally “inner voices” – is a programme where strings speak the language of the soul. Since the early Romantic era, composers have considered the string quartet the ideal medium for their most personal confessions. Beethoven, for example, composed his Eleventh String Quartet during a time of unrequited love and increasing deafness. The result is a deeply introspective and expressive work. Samuel Barber, decades later, rose to fame with his heartbreaking Adagio for Strings, originally the slow movement of his own quartet – now a timeless 20th-century classic.

Finnish composer Jean Sibelius spent his life searching for serenity. His 1909 quartet Voces Intimae stands as the crown jewel of his chamber music: a five-movement journey toward inner peace, with a magical central movement at its heart.

As a final reflection, Meditation from the Fourth String Quartet by Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks unfolds like a cosmic soundscape that momentarily halts time.

This poetic concert interweaves musical confessions into an intimate dialogue between composer and listener – where silence reveals deeper meaning.

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