19 Oct 2026, 18:30, Schweizerhof Luzern

​​​​​​​In four concerts during the 2026/2027 season, the Festival Strings Lucerne Chamber Players will explore the popular theme of setting the seasons to music – but in a ‘different way’ to what one might expect. Autumn kicks off the series: a musical journey through melancholic moods and luminous timbres.

Johannes Brahms approaches autumn with deep contemplation in his choral song *Im Herbst*, adapted for string quartet. A similar melancholic mood characterises Joseph Kosma’s famous chanson *Les feuilles mortes*, originally written for Yves Montand and also made famous by Frank Sinatra and Miles Davis. The Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu created a fascinating sonic reflection of this for string quartet.

The Lucerne composer Caspar Diethelm, whose 100th birthday would have been celebrated this year, was similarly inspired by another composer’s music and transformed a little-known Mozart fragment into a work in its own right. And, of course, Mozart must not be missing. With his unmistakable timbres, which can be just as wonderfully autumnal in character, he brings the programme – which translates autumn into music – to a close with the Quintet K. 515: poetic, rich in colour and full of surprising connections.