Streichquartettfest

250 years after American independence in 1776 and the birth of the string quartet, the 2026 edition of the festival looked across the Atlantic - to the American impulses that have shaped the European quartet tradition. And back to Joseph Haydn, who founded it at the time.

Across the Atlantic: American impulses

Even if America's utopian spirit, which once inspired the promise of freedom in 1776, is harder to grasp today than ever before and dealing with its most important ally is often characterized by caution and perplexity, a look across the Atlantic is particularly enlightening for the Streichquartettfest right now: American impulses have had a decisive influence on the string quartet in recent decades. The Kronos Quartet, whose collaboration with composers from a wide variety of backgrounds creates exciting connections to non-classical forms of music from all over the world, plays a central role in this.

In the festival program, American quartet compositions reflected the country's promise of freedom in ever-changing ways - from the "American" quartet by the Bohemian Antonín Dvořák, to Amy Beach's work from 1929 with Inuit melodies, to more recent pieces by John Adams, Ruth Schonthal and Bryce Dessner, which combine tradition and innovation in fascinating ways.

Back to Haydn: The origin

Could there be a more fitting reference point than Joseph Haydn? The Declaration of Independence of the USA lies almost exactly between his "Sun Quartets" of 1772 and the "Russian Quartets" of 1781. In these masterpieces, Haydn not only founded the genre of the string quartet, but also problematized it, brought it to full maturity and constantly developed it further.

Czech works & new discoveries

The five ensembles also presented works by Czech composers such as Bedřich Smetana as well as rarely performed rarities by Henriëtte Bosmans and Ruth Schonthal, among others, which are well worth discovering.

Deepening & mediation

In workshops on Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Leoš Janáček, visitors were able to experience and listen to the music even more intensively.