Borodin Quartet: Brahms and Tchaikovsky (Part 1)

Borodin Quartet 80 years

The musicians of the Borodin Quartet celebrate their 80th anniversary with a triptych of Brahms and Tchaikovsky. Two geniuses, according to the quartet. This music has been on the music stands of the famous Russian string quartet for 80 years. Violist Igor Naidin has been playing in the Borodin for over a quarter of a century. He says the following about the triptych: 'With the 3 programmes of Brahms and Tchaikovsky that we are playing to celebrate our 80th anniversary, you might think: these pieces are part of our iron repertoire and we have been playing them since our foundation, so we know exactly how to do it. Yes and no, no matter how much they are in our bodies, we have to study and clean up this music again and again.'

Tchaikovsky and Brahms

In 1871, Tchaikovsky was short of money. He organised a concert of his own chamber music – it was less expensive than orchestral works. He wrote his First String Quartet , with a Ukrainian song in the Andante , in the two weeks before the concert. It has a pure, classical style. In Brahms's Viennese apartment, Beethoven's bust looked down on the occupant sullenly. Brahms felt the pressure of his gigantic predecessor. He destroyed more than twenty string quartets before publishing his first work in 1873, at the age of forty – two years after Tchaikovsky.