Agenda

Chamber Symphony

César Franck, Johannes Brahms, Pjotr Iljitsj Tchaikovsky 

 - I Allegro Non Troppo (Franck, from Symphony In D) 

- II Poco Allegretto (Brahms, from Symphony No. 3) 

- III Scherzo (Tchaikovsky, from Symphony No. 2) 

Ennio Morricone – Gabriels Oboe 

Philip Glass – Mishima 

Richard Wagner – The Ring 

Samuel Barber – Adagio for Strings op. 11

Ode to Orpheus: 400 Years Sweelinck

Music by Sweelinck, Vrolijk, Fiumara

Exactly four hundred years after his death, the spirit of Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck is still very much alive in the Netherlands. In this memorable year, Amstel Quartet brings an ode to the ‘Prince of Musicke’.

They play his famous fantasias and vocal compositions, complemented with work by present-day Dutch composers such as Anthony Fiumara and Renske Vrolijk.

Music with Changing Parts

After Glass on the Roof, the programme from 2017 which successfully toured the Dutch concert halls on the occasion of Philip Glass’s 80th birthday, Amstel Quartet has invited the same guest musicians, this time to perform Music with Changing Parts.

Music by Philip Glass

Amstel Quartet electronic wind instruments

Laura Sandee & Pascal Meyer keyboards

With Music with Changing Parts (1970), a monumental work from Philip Glass’s early period, Amstel Quartet returns to the meditative and grooving world of hard-core minimalism. This work, consisting of repeated melodic figures which gradually expand and contract, shares some of the rhythmic, trance-inducing aspects of the earlier Music in Similar Motion. However, through the addition of subtle vocal parts and long tones improvised at different moments in the piece by the musicians, the music acquires a different dimension and anticipates Glass's opera work of the later 1970s, such as Einstein on the Beach. 

Glass on the Roof, the 2017 programme which successfully toured the Dutch concert halls on the occasion of Philip Glass’s 80th birthday, was lavishly praised by both the press and the composer himself.  

With saxophones, electronic wind instruments and keyboards, the performance interweaves acoustic and electronic sounds, creating a rich and ever-changing musical texture. 

“Clouds of notes, as if surfing through the ongoing ocean of rhythm” – Philip Glass on Music with Changing Parts

Sax avec Elan!

Philippe Elan and the Amstel Quartet featuring Thérèse Steinmetz

Music by Jacques Brel, Charles Aznavour, Edith Piaf and others

Drift away with moving French chansons and compelling stories, in the unique combination of chansonnier Philippe Elan and the Amstel Quartet. Elan is a household name to anyone with a passion for the French chanson. He once began his musical career playing the saxophone in the local brass band, but it soon became apparent that his true passion was to sing. The saxophone continued to play a part in his life though and so it was no coincidence that he said yes to a collaboration with the Amstel Quartet: they understand like no other what singing is. And the chansons by Brel, Aznavour and Piaf are perfectly suited to him. The press quite rightly wrote: “Philippe Elan sings these songs with such charm and passion that he effortlessly illustrates why these chansons have become classics.”

Amstel Radio

Amstel Radio

Amstel Radio