Citizenship Notes (2025-26)

In Citizenship Notes, the string quartet is posited as a microcosmic democracy; a highly engaged ecosystem of equal voices with clear rights and responsibilities. The flattened hierarchy of Haydn’s novel string quartet writing directly mirrors the contemporaneous societal shifts afoot in the Age of Enlightenment. Three new commissions explore questions of citizenship and democracy in the 21st century, while BR’s own Colin Jacobsen puts his unique spin on the Bob Dylan civil rights era classic. Lastly, written on the heels of his “Eroica” Symphony, Beethoven’s String Quartet opus 59 no. 3 continues on heroic and egalitarian themes. Perhaps owing to his mentor Haydn’s example, the choice of a fugal last movement proves to be the ultimate representation of a musical democracy.

Franz Joseph Haydn - String Quartet in f minor, opus 20 no. 5

New commissions TBA

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Bob Dylan, arr. Colin Jacobsen - The Times They Are A-Changin’

Ludwig van Beethoven - String Quartet in C major, opus 59 no. 3