Flinders Quartet present the premiere of Bartók, My Father, selected movements from Bartók’s six quartets interwoven with personal stories, culminating in a performance of Bartók’s fifth string quartet.

Bartók, My Father will premiere at Port Phillip Estate on 10th July, Montsalvat Barn Gallery on 11th July and will stream online via Melbourne Digital Concert Hall on 15th July.

Peter Bartók’s illuminating memoir of his Composer father, Béla, inspired Flinders Quartet to delve deeper into the musical portrait of this enigmatic man. Bartók’s fascination with folk melodies and their assimilation into ‘classical’ music is well known, but what about the other elements of his life? The sense of displacement after he fled Hungary to America; the intense discipline with which he lived his life?

Flinders Quartet Guest Artist Richard Piper (Come From Away, Flinders Quartet’s Puck’s Dream) made contact with Peter Bartók directly before he passed away last year and through personal anecdotes and letters, Piper helped Flinders Quartet unearth some personal meaning behind the seminal canon of Bartók’s six string quartets.

Staying true to their motto ‘caring for tradition, daring to be different’, Bartók, My Father reflects Flinders Quartet’s embracement of the future while cherishing the beloved masterworks of the musical canon. With text from Béla and Peter Bartók interwoven between various movements of his six quartets and duos, focussing on the infamously difficult fifth quartet, this will be no ordinary concert experience. Flinders Quartet has a reputation for taking a left-of-centre approach to programming and audiences won’t be disappointed.

For tickets and more information visit http://www.flindersquartet.com/2021-progam-2.