Beethoven Cycle
The Alexander String Quartet releases a new recording of the complete Beethoven Cycle (FoghornClassics 2005) on July 1, 2009, and will be pleased to offer performances of the cycle in 2010-2011 and beyond. These may be organized in a variety of ways, from single concerts over the course of one or more seasons, to Beethoven weeks or weekends.
Option of Collaboration with Lecturer-Composer Robert Greenberg: The Alexander also is pleased to offer the Beethoven Cycle in a series of ten chronological performances in a special lecture-concert format with the renowned lecturer Robert Greenberg.

Program 1 — All Beethoven Programs
The Alexander String Quartet is pleased to offer presenters a variety of ways, some quite unusual, to program all-Beethoven recitals in 2010-2011.

HELP US OUT!

Option 1A – Presenter’s Choice!
Is there a particular Beethoven combination you have a hankering for? All reasonable suggestions will be considered! Please call or e-mail BesenArts to start a conversation.

Option 1B – Audience Choice!
The Alexander String Quartet will be pleased to explore ways for you to involve your audience in program selection. Consider offering your audience members a chance to cast ballots when turning in their subscription brochures or on your website when purchasing tickets for the concert. All programs must be set well in advance and are subject to parameters the quartet must approve.

TWO COMBINATIONS THE ALEXANDER LIKES:

Option 1C – Alexander String Quartet’s Choice #1
1. String Quartet No. 2 in G major, Op. 18 No. 2 (1798-1800)
2. String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135 (1826)
    —Intermission—
3. String Quartet No. 9 in E minor, Op. 59 No. 2, “Razumovsky” (1806)

Option 1D – Alexander String Quartet’s Choice #2
1. String Quartet No. 3 in D major, Op. 18, No. 3 (1798-1800)
2. String Quartet No. 11 in F minor, Op. 95 “Serioso” (1810)
    —Intermission—
3. String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat major, Op. 130 (1825) – concluding with the Grosse Fuge

ADD READINGS!
The Alexander String Quartet has developed a set of readings from Beethoven’s letters, as well as letters written to him and about him by his contemporaries. These readings, tailored to the repertory you choose, can be added to any all-Beethoven program. We recommend that you enlist a local celebrity to perform the readings, but the members of the quartet enjoy performing the readings themselves as well. The brief readings precede each work performed and typically total 5-10 minutes.

Program 2 — All Dvořák – with optional readings
The Alexander String Quartet will perform a four-concert Dvořák series for San Francisco Performances in 2009-2010 and will offer the following program to all presenters in 2010-2011. Presenters have the option of adding readings to the program, which will be drawn from the composer’s correspondence as well as from Patricia Hampl’s moving Spillville, a work about the Iowa farming community where Dvořák wrote the “American” Quartet. We recommend that you enlist a local celebrity to perform the readings, but the members of the quartet enjoy performing the readings themselves as well. The brief readings precede each work performed and typically total 5-10 minutes.

1. Cypresses (selections, 1887)
2. String Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 51, “Slavonic” (1878)
    —Intermission—
3. String Quartet in F major, Op. 96, “American” (1893)

Program 3 — World War II Commemorative
1. Haydn: String Quartet in C major, Op. 76, No. 3 “Emperor” (1797)
2. Britten: String Quartet No. 2 in C major, Op. 36 (1945)
    —Intermission—
3. Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 2 in A major, Op. 68 (1944)

Program 4 — Nicknames