“Death and the Maiden” is a centuries-old motif in Western art and folklore, capturing the charged encounter between youthful beauty and the inescapable presence of death. Often depicted as a young woman being seduced, pursued or embraced by a skeletal figure, the image speaks to the fleeting nature of life, the intimacy of mortality and the uneasy dance between desire and doom.

Franz Schubert’s String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, known as “Death and the Maiden,” takes its name from his earlier song of the same title, in which a terrified maiden begs Death to pass her by—only for Death to gently reply, “Be of good courage, I am not cruel.” Composed as Schubert’s own health was failing, the quartet is raw and urgent, filled with trembling rhythms, sudden silences and violent shifts in tone, a struggle between resistance and resignation played out in four haunted movements.

Remember, you haven’t heard classical music until you’re heard it performed by candlelight in a cemetery, surrounded by 30,000 eavesdropping corpses. So enter the cemetery at sundown and proceed at your peril in a procession through the tombstones to the chapel where you can quell your quaking spirits with a Victorian punch.

Tickets £20 including a delightful gin cocktail. Please click here to purchase

The Idalia Quartet
Initially formed at the Royal College of Music Junior Department in 2022, the Idalia Quartet is comprised of scholarship students currently studying at the Royal Academy of Music. They have performed at Wigmore Hall and gave the UK premiere of Steven Goss’ guitar quintet ‘Wynwood Walls’ in February 2023. In October 2024, they will make their debut as part of the Academy Manson Ensemble, performing a completely contemporary programme which will include the world premiere of ‘Substrata’ by Andrea Balency-Béarn and the UK premiere of Abracadabra (Suncatchers) for 11 virtuosi by Augusta Read Thomas in the prestigious Duke’s Hall.