Joseph HAYDN (1732-1809): String Quartet Opus 77 No.1 Hob. III:81 (1779) - 200th anniversary of the composer's death

Brett DEAN (b 1961): Winter Songs for tenor voice flute (doubling piccolo and alto flute), oboe (doubling cor anglais), clarinet (doubling bass clarinet), bassoon and horn (2000)

Johannes BRAHMS (1833 - 1897): Trio for horn, violin and piano opus 40 in E flat (1865)

Joseph Haydn, a supreme master of instrumental clarity, didn't invent the string quartet but made of it a genre that has inspired almost every great composer since his time. he died 200 years ago with with a longer list of first-class quartets to his name than any other composer. We shall hear one of the last two quartets he completed, a tuneful, springy and beautiful work worthy of starting our celebration of his bicentenary. Brahms has contributed worthily to the string quartet tradition but is even happier when he adds a piano or wind instrument to the string texture. His trio for horn, vioin and piano is a masterpiece unmatched in its genre for eloquence and power. Brett Dean, though a string-playing virtuoso himself, chooses to partner a tenor voice wth wind quintet in his cycle of Winter Songs, in which this Queenslander comes to terms with the unfamiliar feel of a northern European winter during his years as a member of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.