Preface

Stefan George described the feeling of air from another planet in his poem Entrückung. Arnold Schoenberg set these verses to music in the last movement of his Second String Quartet, Op. 10. Because of Schoenberg’s extraordinary music, George’s words have since been used many times to characterise the development of new music written after Schoenberg’s Opus 10. For the last twenty-five years, the Schoenberg Quartet has seen to it that fresh “air from another planet” regularly blows through the concert hall.

Up until now, the quartet has not celebrated its anniversaries. This is fitting, since the Schoenberg Quartet sees each concert as a commemorative celebration. This season, however, they are pulling out all the stops. The festivities commemorate this dedicated group’s long and uninterrupted status as one of the cultural gems of Dutch musical life. Both in the Netherlands and abroad, the Schoenberg Quartet offers music-lovers interested in nineteenth- and twentieth-century chamber music the most beautiful concerts of the highest artistic quality.

One can rightly say that the Schoenberg Quartet has made its unique repertoire more accessible for a broad audience, as has been impressively documented in the anniversary book and on the internet. The Schoenberg Quartet is very grateful to all who have made its existence possible by means of a financial contribution. It wishes, in particular, to thank the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science for its support. The quartet also wishes to thank its faithful public, the Friends of the Schoenberg Quartet and the programmers who, time and again, have so graciously allowed the quartet the opportunity to perform its repertoire.

In addition to the publication of the anniversary book and website, the quartet’s celebration of this anniversary season will be underscored by a special series of concerts. Furthermore, a set of nine CDs will be put out on the British label Chandos, entitled 25th Anniversary Edition and comprising recordings of the complete works for strings by Schoenberg, Webern, Berg and Zemlinsky.

On behalf of the board of the Schoenberg Quartet Foundation, I hereby congratulate Janneke van der Meer, Wim de Jong, Henk Guittart and Viola de Hoog on this most honourable anniversary. It is my sincere hope that they will continue in good health to make music for many concert seasons to come and I am convinced that I also speak for the many concert-goers who enjoy their performances.

Jan Wolter Wabeke
Chair, Schoenberg Quartet Foundation