Starting from the four-note basic motif that had already characterized his three previous string quartets, Beethoven broke even more decisively with classical sonata conventions in the C sharp minor Quartet op. 131. Seven sections form an uninterrupted, flowing whole. Although Mendelssohn retains the four-movement form in his Opus 80, he surprises us with his unusually unsparing directness and darkly expressive tone. The reason: he created the work as a kind of instrumental requiem for his sister Fanny. The Greek composer Iannis Xenakis elevated the number four directly to the title in his piece "Tetras" from 1983. In nine sections, different types of sound production are used with glissandi, pizzicati, double stops, harmonics and legato lines. These form a virtuoso soundscape that opens up a wide range of associative spaces.

Afterwards, the portrait film "Helmut Lachenmann - MY WAY" by Wiebke Pöpel will be shown. The multi-award-winning film approaches Lachenmann's music in a very personal and humorous way and lives above all from the composer's engaging personality. It shows Lachenmann in rehearsals with Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, at home in Leonberg, on the trail of his apprenticeship with Luigi Nono in Venice and at the Zurich Opera House, where his opera Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern is impressively staged as a ballet. Finally, we accompany the composer to his retreat high above Lake Maggiore, the place where all his works are still created today.

A production by Debunt Film/Wiebke Pöpel in co-production with SWR, funded by Medien- und Filmgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg.