MIDWINTER FESTIVAL: BEETHOVEN QUARTETS
Friday, January 22, 2027 at 12:00 am
Town Hall Theatre
FRIDAY 22 to SUNDAY 24 JANUARY 2027
Music for Galway presents a unique opportunity to hear the complete Beethoven Quartets this season. Following the Emily Anderson Concert in November, the cycle is completed across five concerts this January weekend, with two long-established quartets sharing the challenge: the Vogler Quartet from Germany, for many years associated with Sligo and the west of Ireland, and our own ConTempo Quartet. Both groups have lived with this music for decades. There can be no better way to start the Beethoven bicentenary year!
The festival also includes a dance element as Galway Dance collaborates with Music for Galway to present a new choreography to partner the momentous Grosse Fuge at the final concert on Sunday afternoon.
THE MIDWINTER FESTIVAL IS PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF GALWAY
CONTEMPO QUARTET IS PRESENTED BY MUSICCONNECTS
PERFORMERS:
ConTempo Quartet(opens in new tab) | Vogler Quartet(opens in new tab) | Dance Artists in partnership with Galway Dance
TICKETS
All MWF tickets can be booked through the Town Hall Theatre. Book online by clicking the BUY TICKETS button after the specific concert or by phoning the Town Hall Theatre on 091 569777.
Standard €25.00 | Concession €22.50 | MfG Friends €21.00 | Solidarity* €12.50
*Available to children, full time students, asylum seekers, people in receipt of job seeker allowance and disability or carers allowance. Solidarity refers to ticket price only and does not denote a relaxed performance.
Festival Ticket (includes all 5 concerts): Standard €115 | Concession €105
Please note that the festival ticket price is automatically applied once the 5 tickets are in the customers basket. The 5 tickets must be all standard tickets or all concession tickets, to avail of the individual discounts. This does not include solidarity or MfG Friends tickets.
Accessibility Information(opens in new tab)
Friday 22 January – 7.30pm
| Quartet Op. 18 No. 1 | ConTempo Quartet |
| Quartet Op. 18 No. 2 | Vogler Quartet |
| Quartet Op. 18 No. 4 | ConTempo Quartet |
The opening concert of the weekend festival presents three of the early Op. 18 set of quartets. With these quartets the young Beethoven solidified his reputation as a quartet composer par excellence, building on the immensely important legacy of Haydn and Mozart.
BUY TICKETS – Friday 7.30pm(opens in new tab)(opens in new tab)
Saturday 23 January – 3.00pm
| Quartet Op. 18 No. 5 | Vogler Quartet |
| Quartet Op. 18 No. 6 | ConTempo Quartet |
| Quartet Op. 59 No. 1 | Vogler Quartet |
The second concert of the festival completes the Op. 18 cycle (composed 1797 – 1800) followed by the first of the so-called Razumovsky Quartets from 1808.
BUY TICKETS – Saturday 3.00pm(opens in new tab)(opens in new tab)
Saturday 23 January – 7.30pm
| Quartet Op. 59 No. 2 | ConTempo Quartet |
| Quartet Op. 59 No. 3 | ConTempo Quartet |
| Quartet Op. 74 | Vogler Quartet |
The evening concert completes the Razumovsky cycle, followed by the stand-alone “Harp” Quartet in the second half.
BUY TICKETS – Saturday 7.30pm(opens in new tab)(opens in new tab)
Sunday 24 January – 12.00 noon
|
Quartet Op. 130 |
ConTempo Quartet |
| Quartet Op. 131 | Vogler Quartet |
On Sunday morning we enter Beethoven’s final period with two momentous quartets. The Op. 130 Quartet will be performed with Beethoven’s replacement finale. The original Finale, the Great Fugue, or Grosse Fuge, will be performed separately in the closing concert. The Op. 131 Quartet which follows was Beethoven’s favourite of the late quartets.
BUY TICKETS- Sunday 12.00 noon(opens in new tab)(opens in new tab)
Sunday 24 January – 4.00pm
| Quartet Op. 132 | ConTempo Quartet |
| Great Fugue Op. 133 | Vogler Quartet and Galway Dance artists |
| Quartet Op. 135 | Vogler Quartet |
Our final concert presents an exciting new element: a brand new choreography for the Grosse Fuge, presented in collaboration with Galway Dance. We also hear the final two quartets of the cycle including the relatively brief final Op. 135 Quartet with the famous enigmatic inscription: “Must it be? It must be!”
BUY TICKETS – Sunday 4.00pm(opens in new tab)(opens in new tab)(opens in new tab)
