Four nations, one sound

Founded in 2021, the V4 String Quartet is one of the most active quartets in the region, embodying the collaboration of outstanding musicians from the Visegrád Group. They have already performed at prestigious festivals across Europe, such as the MiraTone Festival and Academy, the Liszt Festival in Gödöllő, the EUFONIE Festival in Warsaw, the Chain Festival of the Lutosławski Society, the Music Salon Festival in Kraków, the Domus Artis in Slovakia, and the Mente Festival in Romania. They have also performed in notable concert venues including the Royal Palace of Gödöllő, the Festetics Palace and the House of Music Hungary in Budapest, the Primate’s Palace in Bratislava, the Krzysztofory Palace in Kraków, the Witold Lutosławski Concert Studio of the Polish Radio in Warsaw, the castle in Klášterec nad Ohří in the Czech Republic, and the Palace of Culture in Târgu Mureș, Romania. The quartet’s mission is to put the composers of V4 countries into the spotlight. It is therefore no coincidence that their concert opens with the Hungarian premiere of the String Quartet No. 1 by Slovak composer Ľudovít Rajter. Rajter, who himself served as a bridge between Slovak and Hungarian musical life, taught at the Liszt Academy and led the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra for many years. The program also includes the work of Mieczysław Weinberg, a Polish-born composer and one of the great discoveries of 20th-century music history. Despite a life burdened with misfortunes, Weinberg’s String Quartet No. 8 unveils a musical world of astonishing power: mourning and hope struggle with each other. Czech composer Leoš Janáček’s String Quartet No. 1 was inspired by Tolstoy’s novella “The Kreutzer Sonata”. This work showcases all the depths of the composer’s emotionally rich language. The concert concludes with one of the most beautiful pieces among Beethoven’s late quartets. The “Holy Song of Thanksgiving” movement of the String Quartet in A minor expresses Beethoven’s gratitude for his recovery from illness. This evening is an exquisite example of how music connects nations, and the V4 String Quartet’s concert celebrates this community. The event is organized within the framework of the Polish presidency of the Council of the European Union.