The second concert of the 2027 Heritage Series delights with a program filled with sunshine, joy, and passion. Papa Haydn, often called “father of the symphony,” also reigns as “father of the string quartet” for his enormous contributions to both genres. His Opus 20 quartets (nicknamed “Sun Quartets” after the title page art on the 1779 Hummel edition) would define the form for the next 200 years. The No. 2 begins with the loveliest of cello solos and closes with “a game of tag, joyful and unleashed.” (Mark Steinberg). Beethoven’s beloved “Harp” Quartet, while calling to mind his dear mentor Haydn, also looks forward to his “heroic” style—profound, intense, expressive. An octogenarian, Saint-Saëns’s accomplishments had been unjustly overlooked, seen as a traditionalist in the midst of upheavals in the music world. But showing that there was life in the old man yet, at 83 he undertook his Second String Quartet in 1919. The result? A chamber music triumph… a masterful contribution to the genre that the composer himself called “amusing and entertaining.”