Our autumn program at Yarralumla pairs Classical icon Joseph Haydn with Norwegian Romantic composer Edvard Grieg.

We open with Grieg’s light-footed First String Quartet in G minor. A surging undercurrent propels this fast-moving piece forward, the drama interspersed with moments of sublime lyricism and steeped in the folk traditions of the composer’s homeland.

Then, the CSO Chamber Ensemble presents the fifth quartet from Haydn’s String Quartet in F major, nicknamed ‘The Dream’. Also known as the Prussian quartets, these works were dedicated to King Frederick William II of Prussia. Serenely reserved in its opening movement, the subsequent poco adagio soothes us into blissful reverie and pure delight before the dancing menuetto and lilting vivace.