Galway Music Residency’s From Europe with Love is back with another instalment this coming Tuesday 6 October. This month ConTempo Quartet visit Hungary, the home of celebrated composer and ethnomusicologist Béla Bartók. The lunchtime concert takes place on Tuesday 6 October at 1:10pm in its temporary home, The Mick Lally Theatre.

ConTempo Quartet, who are originally from Romania, will quite suitably perform Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances. This suite of six short pieces was originally composed for piano, but was later orchestrated for small ensemble. The suite is based on seven Romanian tunes from Transylvania and according to the composer should take precisely four minutes and three seconds to perform! In addition to these Dances, the quartet will perform Bartók’s String Quartet No. 4. This work is considered as one of the composer’s masterpieces. It contains musical ideas from Hungarian, Romanian and Bulgarian music and demands great technical skill from the performers. It is the first time in his published work that the now famous ‘Bartók Pizzicato’ is heard, where the performers pluck a string so hard, it snaps against the instrument. An introduction to the music will be given by Galway-based Hungarian pianist, piano teacher and accompanist David Szabo.

This concert will take place in line with current health and safety regulations. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, only a reduced audience can be facilitated and booking is essential. However, continuing its commitment to making high-quality music accessible to as many people as possible, Galway Music Residency will be live streaming this event for FREE on its Facebook page for all to enjoy from the comfort of their own homes. Online donations are welcome.