Octets for Strings

Students from the Royal Academy of Music explore core works of the string repertoire. First at 11.15am, the edgy and rhythmic Two Pieces, Op 11, by the young modernist Shostakovich, and the tour de force that is Mendelssohn's Octet. Written at the tender age of sixteen, its carefree exuberance belies its fiendish technical intricacies. Then, at 12.30pm, Stravinsky's Octet – one of his first neoclassical works, combining contemporary tonal ideas along with music of bygone eras. Plus, Mozart's Serenade No 11, combining folk songs in the minuets, an adagio of operatic dimensions and a breezy, light-hearted finale.