To honour the bicentenary of Ludwig van Beethoven’s death, the Engegård Quartet are immersing themselves in his complete string quartets. This collection represents a watershed in classical composition and is, of course, THE central pillar of the string quartet repertoire. 

While we have been studying and performing Beethoven’s quartets for the whole of our career, we are now looking systematically at each individual work, and will be performing them throughout 2026 and 2027. 

The Engegård Quartet will celebrate the bicentenary with three mini-festivals in January, April and November 2027, in Oslo. In addition to the complete string quartets, the festivals will present a picture of Beethoven in his “early”, “heroic” and “late” periods, with solo works and chamber music masterpieces performed by world-class artists. Interdisciplinary elements, including talks and theatrical productions, will illuminate historical and personal perspectives. Children and young people will be involved both on stage and as audience members. These festivals will be modelled on the Engegård Quartet’s much-loved “1-2-3…” festivals which focus on one composer over three days. 

Please note these dates are not yet confirmed:

1-2-3 Early Beethoven - the Viennese classical Beethoven, Nynorskens hus, 22nd-24th January 2027 

1-2-3 Middle Beethoven - the heroic Beethoven, Sentralen and University’s Aula, 23rd-25th ​​April 2027 

1-2-3 Late Beethoven at 123 - the visionary Beethoven, Nynorskens hus/Churches/University’s Aula, 12th-14th November 2027