In the age of Beethoven

At the turn of the nineteenth century, Paris not only embraced the musical models that arrived from Vienna, but also reformulated them. As the string quartet was increasingly regarded as a “serious genre”, French composers began to alter the balance within the ensemble. Although Vienna had already legitimised the inclusion of a wind instrument, the bassoon was rarely adopted. In France, however, composers such as Devienne, Auber, Baillot, Reicha and others associated with the Paris Conservatoire wrote bassoon quartets. The Cambini-Paris Quartet and David Douçot present the quartet as it was in France at a time when Beethoven was changing the rules.

Concert followed by a cocktail.