Dudok Quartet Amsterdam

The Dudok Quartet Amsterdam is forging a reputation as one of the most creative and versatile quartets of its generation. With its ethos of “sharing the heart of music”, the Quartet believes that chamber music is an act of friendship and play to be shared directly with audiences and is committed to crafting unique and eclectic programmes that engage listeners in new and imaginative ways.

In repertoire ranging from Ligeti, Shostakovich and Bacewicz through to Mendelssohn, Mozart and Beethoven, the Dudok Quartet constantly strives to forge new pathways and connections in music. Their intelligent approach and flair for programming sees them regularly perform their own arrangements of pieces and they have so far produced arrangements of composers including Gesualdo, Desprez, Shostakovich, Brahms and Messiaen. The Quartet is also committed to commissioning new works and has collaborated with composers including Joey Roukens, Peter Vigh and Theo Loevendie . 2024 sees the Quartet premiere a new piece from British-Lebanese composer Bushra El-Turk, co-commissioned for the Dudok by the String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam, West Cork Chamber Music Festival and the Borletti-Buitoni Trust. Another current repertoire highlight sees the Quartet undertake performances of Steve Reich’s Different Trains, for which the players have made their own new recording of the accompanying tape track.

Other recent projects have included the world premiere of Kaija Saariaho's opera Only the Sound Remains with Philippe Jaroussky and Dutch National Opera and a collaboration with director Rosabel Huguet re-imagining Beethoven's Op 132 String Quartet for children. Entitled “Quartet! A card game with Beethoven”, the project has toured to venues including the Vienna Konzerthaus, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden and Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie as part of the Dudok’s ongoing commitment to education and outreach work.

The Dudok Quartet’s eclectic recording catalogue showcases the ensemble’s courageous and inventive signature style. Their most recent release for the Rubicon Classics label entitled ‘What Remains’ brings together works by Joey Roukens, Steve Reich and Messiaen and was praised by The Guardian as “finely judged and excellently delivered”. Other releases on Rubicon have so far included carefully curated discs spanning repertoire ranging from Shostakovich and Bacewicz through to Brahms as well as showcasing their own arrangements.

Having first met as members of the Ricciotti Ensemble, a Dutch street symphony orchestra, the Quartet takes its name from renowned Dutch architect Willem Marinus Dudok (1884–1974). A great lover of music, Dudok came from a musical family and composed in his spare time, saying “I feel deeply the common core of music and architecture: after all, they both derive their value from the right proportions”.

The Quartet performs on instruments generously on loan from the Dutch Musical Instrument Foundation (NMF); violins by Francesco Goffriller and Vincenzo Panormo, viola by Jean Baptiste Lefèbvre and cello by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume.

Further details

Venue & Festival Highlights

The Dudok Quartet has performed at many of the major European venues and festivals including the Vienna Konzerthaus, Wigmore Hall, Beethovenhaus Bonn, De Bijloke, Barcelona Auditori, De Doelen, Festspiele Mecklenburg Vorpommern, BBC Proms and Heidelberg String Quartet Festival and the West Cork Chamber Music Festival as well as appearing regularly at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and Amsterdam Muziekgebouw. Forthcoming highlights include returns to the Amsterdam String Quartet Biennale and Wigmore Hall as well as a debut tour of Australia including performances at the Canberra International Festival.

Recordings

The Quartet has recorded for Rubicon Classics since 2021, with their first release for the label of the complete Brahms Quartets (performed on gut strings). The disc attracted wonderful reviews across the board, with The Telegraph describing the recording as a “marvel, revealing the intricate detail of these pieces with lovely clarity” and The Strad awarding it the accolade The Strad Recommends. Their second disc entitled ‘Reflections’ featured Quartets by Shostakovich and Bacewicz alongside the Dudok’s own arrangements of Shostakovich Piano Preludes.

Future recording plans for Rubicon include works Saariaho and Shostakovich as well as the complete Tchaikovsky Quartets.

Previous releases for the Resonus Classics label include “Métamorphoses” (an exploration the theme of musical innovation through works by Ligeti, Haydn and Brahms), which was awarded Editor’s Choice in Gramophone, “Solitude” (featuring works by Mendelssohn, Weinberg and Shostakovich curated around the theme of loss and loneliness) and the complete Haydn Opus 20 Quartets, a recording that Gramophone praised for its “mingled virtuosity, finesse and coursing energy”.

Collaborations

Collaboration is a key part of the Quartet’s mission and recent partners have included Olga Paschenko, Pieter Wispelwey, Hannes Minnaar, Erik Bosgraaf, James Oesi and Annelien Van Wauwe.

Awards

Winner of a 2018 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award, other awards include prizes at the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition and Joseph Joachim International Chamber Music Competition Weimar as well as the prestigious Dutch Kersjes Prize (2014).

Studies and mentors

The Dudok Quartet studied at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne with the Alban Berg Quartet and later at the Dutch String Quartet Academy with Marc Danel. Other important mentors include Eberhard Feltz, Peter Cropper (Lindsay Quartet), Luc-Marie Aguera (Quatuor Ysaÿe) and Stefan Metz.

2024/2025 Season Programmes

• Dudok Signature Programmes (0.11MB, PDF)