This year’s Quartet Week features six acclaimed ensembles who will explore a wide-ranging selection of works from the rich quartet repertoire in the Pierre Boulez Saal’s intimate setting. With celebrated masterpieces of the genre performed side by side with contemporary and recent pieces, the program reveals surprising connections and echoes across different styles and eras.

In March 2018, the Heath Quartet performed Jörg Widmann’s first five string quartets at the Pierre Boulez Saal. Now the British musicians are joined by the composer himself to present his Clarinet Quintet, written the year before. Benjamin Britten’s Third String Quartet of 1975, his last completed work, and four-part fantasies by Henry Purcell complete the program.