HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRUCKNER
Anton Bruckner 2024 Bicentenary

On this 200th anniversary of the birth of the Viennese composer Anton Bruckner,  Ilumina is presenting a rarely heard execution of his String Quintet in F major, which he completed in 1879. It was played for the first time at the Musikverein in Vienna in 1885. Dedicated to Duke Max Emanuel of Baviera, it is one of Bruckner’s few chamber music pieces and stands out with the ‘symphonic’ effect that runs through the whole quintet. Its substantial structure, in four movements, has lent itself to various adaptations for larger groups, including a symphony orchestra.
Completing this evening’s programme is one of Brahms’ chamber music masterpieces, String Quintet no.2 in G major, op.111. Composed and first performed in 1890, only a few years after Bruckner’s quintet, it was among the last of the great German maestro’s compositions and ‘completes’ his work for the ensemble of two violins, two violas, and a cello, which started with op.88.   From the formal viewpoint, there is more freedom in the treatment of the movements, reflecting Brahms’ full artistic maturity in his last ten years, and his outstanding ability to exploit the expressive and technical possibilities of these string instruments.
Ilumina Is a group establshed in San Paolo del Brasile in 2015 by an American viola player, Jennifer Stumm.  Starting as a small project to develop musical talent, Ilumina has grown in a few years to include hundreds of young South American musicians, and established international artistes from all over the world.  They have built up a widely known festival where thousands of people every year can enjoy live music.