Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) composed his last string quartet in October 1826 on his brother's country estate, where he had retired with his nephew who had attempted suicide. Despite the difficult times, the quartet turned out to be charming. Before the last movement of the work, the composer wrote a motto for which there are several explanations, one of which is Beethoven's own in his letter to the publisher: 'Here, my dear friend, is my last quartet. It is the last, and caused me a great deal of trouble, and I could not get the last movement written. But your letters reminded me and I finally decided to compose it. That's why I wrote the motto Difficult decision - Is it necessary? - It is necessary, it is necessary!"

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Beethoven's last quartet was the inspiration for the passionate and romantic Second String Quartet (1827) by the young and amorous Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847). We don't know who the object of his infatuation was, but the 18-year-old composer's feelings were obviously strong. Despite his young age, Mendelssohn, already a successful composer, used a quotation from his earlier song Frage op. The song ends with the words “only he who feels as I do can understand my feelings, and only he will remain faithful to me forever”. Perhaps the composer reveals in his quartet what love feels like to him - sometimes tempestuous, always overwhelmingly beautiful.

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Play III by Jaakko Kuusisto (1974-2022) is a work commissioned by violinist Minna Pensola and written for Meta4. According to the composer, the piece became a portrait of the quartet, with each of them having cadenced solos in their own character. Kuusisto's own immense musicality is present in the piece. He wrote it for his good friends, whose talents he knew deeply. Play, joy and laughter are the salt and sugar of life - Kuusisto used them skilfully.

Texts by Hannele Eklund

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Meta4, one of the most internationally renowned Finnish string quartets, was founded in 2001 as the festival orchestra of the Mänttä Music Festival. The idea came from the quartet's cellist Tomas Djupsjöbacka, who was looking for a new addition to the piano-based programme. The name of the quartet is a pun on the first letters of the first names of the original players - Minna Pensola, Eriikka Nylund, Tomas Djupsjöbacka, Antti Tikkanen - and the number of players. Atte Kilpeläinen has been playing with the quartet since 2006.The quartet was established in 2003 when the group went to Basel, Switzerland to study. Their international career was launched by winning the Shostakovich Competition in 2004.

Since then, success and recognition have come both at home and abroad, including winning the Joseph Haydn Competition in Vienna in 2007 and the Finland Prize of the same year, awarded by the Ministry of Education and Culture. From 2008 to 2010 Meta4 was a BBC New Generation Artist. The quartet was the artistic director of the Oulunsalo Soi Music Festival from 2008 to 2011, and since 2008 it has been the Kuhmo Chamber Music Orchestra in Residence. Meta4 is actively performing around the world, most recently on an extensive tour of the United States from which the group has just returned.

Meta4 has released several recordings that have won prestigious awards such as the Echo Klassik, Emma and Yle Radio Album of the Year awards. The most recent releases are Oceano (2021), featuring chamber music by Sebastian Fagerlund, and Tales from Norway, featuring compositions by Krishna Nagaraja, released in spring 2022.