Butter Quartet

Sunday
April 26, 2026
1:30 - 3:30 pm
Calderwood Hall

Butter Quartet, a period-instrument string quartet, presents a program exploring the origins of the Classical period string quartet. The four composers on this program—Haydn, Mozart, Vaňhal, and Dittersdorf—are reported to have performed together as a string quartet at private gatherings. At the core of this program is a musical tip-of-the-hat between two of them: Hadyn’s Opus 20 “Sun” quartets number among his greatest works—witty, erudite, profound. Dazzled by Haydn’s fusion of counterpoint and gallant gesture, Mozart dedicated his most learned set of quartets to Haydn.

Photo credit: Łukasz Rajchert

Program

Jan Křtitel Vaňhal
String Quartet in B-flat major, Op. 6, No. 6 (1771)
Franz Joseph Haydn
String Quartet in D major, Op. 20, “Sun,” No. 4, Hob.III:34 (1772)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
String Quartet No. 15 in D minor, K. 421/417b (1783)
Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf
String Quartet No. 5 in E-flat major, Kr. 195 (1788)

Artists

Butter Quartet
Anna Jane Lester & Chloe Prendergast, violins
Isabel Franenberg, viola
Evan Buttar, cello

Social Media
Facebook
Instagram

Performers originally scheduled to perform on this date had to withdraw.

Seating Sections and Rates

Performance Level and First Balcony:
Members $65, Adults $85, Seniors $75, Students & Children ages 5–17 $20

Second Balcony:
Members $50, Adults $65, Seniors $55, Students & Children 5-17 $20

Third Balcony:
Members $40, Adults $50, Seniors $45, Students & Children ages 5–17 $20

Music at the Gardner is supported by Manitou Fund. The Museum thanks its generous concert donors: The Coogan Concert in memory of Peter Weston Coogan; Fitzpatrick Family Concert; James Lawrence Memorial Concert; Alford P. Rudnick Memorial Concert; David Scudder in memory of his wife, Marie Louise Scudder; Wendy Shattuck Young Artist Concert; and Willona Sinclair Memorial Concert. The piano is dedicated as the Alex d’Arbeloff Steinway. The harpsichord was generously donated by Dr. Robert Barstow in memory of Marion Huse, and its care is endowed in memory of Dr. Barstow by The Barstow Fund. Music at the Gardner is also supported in part by Barbara and Amos Hostetter, Joseph Mari, Sallie and Jim McGregor, Nicie and Jay Panetta, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Inc., and the Massachusetts Cultural Council, which is supported by the state of Massachusetts and the National Endowment for the Arts.