The Gealán Quartet proves with every performance that they are a continued audience favourite.
Composed of four of Ireland’s most gifted young musicians, the Gealán Quartet open their programme this autumn with a series of evocative miniatures from Ireland, Spain, Italy, and Russia, culminating in Mendelssohn’s powerful F minor quartet. Their wide-ranging programme fits perfectly with their reputation for offering an intimate and individual perspective in their music-making, contrasting at times with fiery and deeply felt performances.
Programme
Sam Perkin - A Gathering [2025]
Cork composer Sam Perkin wrote his celebratory short quartet A Gathering for the opening of the 2025 West Cork Chamber Music Festival. He wrote: Are we in a barn, a pub, or at a chamber music festival? Regardless, our shared love of music and conviviality is woven throughout. In the spirit of fun and joy, we dance in celebration of The Musician. We honour all those who have come before and all those who will come after us.
Turina - La Oración Del Torero [1925]
Turina’s Bullfighter’s Prayer portrays the contrast between the chaotic, festive atmosphere of a Madrid bullfight and the toreador praying for his safety. The music is unmistakably Spanish but also owes much to French impressionism.
Puccini - Crisantemi [1890]
Puccini’s Crisantemi is a moving elegy written in 1890 as a tribute on the death of Amadeo I of Spain, a son of the Italian King, Vittorio Emanuele II.
Shostakovich - String Quartet No.7 [1960]
Shostakovich wrote his seventh string quartet in memory of his first wife who had died in 1954. In its three short movements the music is unsettled and unflinching, circling grief without finding resolution.
Mendelssohn - String Quartet in F minor Op.80 [1847]
Mendelssohn approaches grief in a very different way in his F minor quartet Op.80, written in homage to his sister Fanny who had died a few weeks previously. The impassioned emotional turmoil of the first two movements gives way to a weeping lament in the slow movement and then to a fiery, virtuosic finale, perhaps a tribute to the brilliance of Fanny’s own string quartet writing.
