Biography

Johannes Bernardus van Bree (1801-1857), born in Amsterdam, first made his reputation as a violinist.  Later in life, he cultivated his abilities as a composer, conductor, and organizer, and became a “mover and shaker” in the public concert scene in Holland.  He founded Amsterdam’s Caecilia Society in 1829 (St. Cecilia is the patron saint of music), a group of amateur musicians who presented two concerts per year, conducted by van Bree himself.  The Allegro for Four String Quartets was first performed at a concert given by the Society’s members on March 27, 1845.  The group was reported to have had as many as twenty-five rehearsals on the piece!  Our Fortissimo performers know what a luxury that is, and wonder how in the world they scheduled and attended all those rehearsals (lower gas prices would have helped).  To make it even more difficult, there were actually more than thirty musicians in the original performance, because some or all of the parts were doubled.  With this one piece, van Bree was able to build a string orchestra out of the central core of the string quartet.  We look forward to performing it for you, and hope you like it as much as the Amsterdammers of 1845 likely did.  It’s a beautifully crafted work with the fragrance of Mendelssohn, we think.

(information from A Tribute to Holland, a recording from the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, conducted by Sir Neville Marriner)