The season’s third concert echoes its second with a modern masterpiece bookended by Beethoven and Brahms. The program begins with Beethoven’s Quartet in A Major, Op. 18, No. 2 and continues with Brahms’ stormy and emotional first quartet, which he published only after a decade of experiments, revisions, and polishing. The evening closes with John Adams’ first classic, the ever-shifting minimalist piece Shaker Loops. Dan Ruccia conducts an ensemble of 12 players featuring bassist Robbie Link and some of the Duke Department of Music’s most talented students.
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op. 18, No. 3
Brahms: String Quartet in C Minor, Op. 51, No. 1
John Adams: Shaker Loops (with Dan Ruccia, conductor; Robbie Link, bass & Duke students) (1983)