A string quartet – according to the members of Quatuor Ébène – can be compared to a marriage: you need a lot of patience when dealing with each other. Added to this are passion, technical brilliance and expressiveness, which make the ensemble one of the leading string quartets of our time. In this programme, Quatuor Ébène takes a tour through the history of the genre: from Joseph Haydn’s experimental, sometimes abrasive Quartet op. 20 No. 3 to Robert Schumann’s intimate Quartet in A minor and Béla Bartók’s wistful Sixth String Quartet, composed in 1939 against the backdrop of the approaching World War.