The Basel-based Jouska String Quartet returns to its home city to offer an immersive musical experience. Their program "Nouveaux Paysages" (New Landscapes) invites the audience on a sonic journey through evocative textures and emotional depth, showcasing the technical brilliance and sensitive artistry that have become the quartet's hallmark. The ensemble continues to push the boundaries of the string quartet repertoire, blending tradition with a fresh, contemporary perspective. This concert represents a unique opportunity for the local public to witness an award-winning performance in an intimate and acoustic-rich setting.
The concert presents a dialogue between two geniuses from different eras, separated by more than a century yet united by the same pivotal moment in their lives: Ludwig van Beethoven and Maurice Ravel. Both composed these works at around age 28—a decisive phase in their search for artistic identity and their “inner voice.”
Beethoven wrote his String Quartet op. 18 no.2 still in the shadow of Haydn and Mozart, yet with the boldness of an artist already beginning to break open the forms of the classical tradition. During this period, he noticed the first signs of his emerging deafness—a challenge that forced him to retreat into his inner world. The string quartet thus became his personal laboratory, a space of deep introspection in which his “hidden self” emerges with unprecedented intensity.
Decades later, Ravel approached his String Quartet in F major with a similar ambition. At age 27, he succeeded in merging formal clarity and classical balance with chromatic textures and nuances of Impressionism. For Ravel, this work became a bridge between respect for the past and the creation of a modern, unmistakable musical language.
In both cases, the string quartet serves as a mirror of the composer’s soul. Whether through Beethoven’s harmonic experimentation or Ravel’s refined elegance, both works remind the listener that the search for one’s own voice is a timeless journey—one that transcends centuries, nationalities, and styles.
Entrance is free but there will be a collection.

Website
druckereihalle.ch/events-leser/nouveaux-paisages

Where
Druckereihalle im Ackermannshof
St. Johann-Vorstadt 19/21
4056 Basel

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