String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam | Pavel Haas Quartet

Bohuslav MARTINŮ: String Quartet No. 3, H 183
Bohuslav MARTINŮ: String Quartet No. 5, H 268
Bohuslav MARTINŮ: String Quartet No. 7, H 314

Pavel Haas Quartet:
Veronika Jarůšková, Marek Zwiebel (violin)
Šimon Truszka (viola)
Peter Jarůšek (cello)

String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam 2026

The String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam will see its fifth edition in 2026. Once every two years, Amsterdam’s storied Muziekgebouw becomes a hotspot for world-class and young emerging string quartets, composers, renowned soloists, guest speakers, and curious listeners. Artists and audience mingle freely between events in the building’s striking public spaces, with dramatic views over the river and city skyline. The SQBA is a true laboratory of unbounded creativity and discovery for both string quartet devotees and newcomers to the genre. As The Guardian said, “it’s Quartet Disney World!”

Three energetic string quartets by Bohuslav Martinů

There is no doubt that the Pavel Haas Quartet has a fondness for the music of its compatriots like no other. Czech master Bohuslav Martinů is one such compatriot. To give a glimpse into the beauty of this composer’s attractive but unruly musical idiom, the quartet made a striking selection, in which Martinů’s string quartet language comes alive in all its facets. 

Martinů took over from his compatriots Smetana, Dvořák and Janáček as the greatest Czech composer in the 20th century. Like his predecessors, he intensely loved the string quartet, writing seven of them between 1918 and 1947. The Third closes a period when Bohemian rhythms and melodies were paramount. The works from his middle period bear a neo-classical stamp, with the Fifth taking on a more introverted tone. After fleeing from the European war effort, Martinů wrote energetic string quartets in the United States full of distinctive rhythms.

More information: https://www.muziekgebouw.nl/en/agenda/extending-string-quartet-love-for-the-czech-republic-8dqw