Classical music reached a peak of perfection in Vienna during the last three decades of the Eighteenth Century, an era in which every aristocratic household worth its salt had a Kapelle or band of musicians to keep every-one entertained. In particular, the refined musical discourse of the string quartet was held to be the highest form of musical art; the elegant interplay of its various string instruments likened by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe to “four intelligent people conversing”. In this talk, Sandy examines the perfect storm of circumstances that made this extraordinary era possible. He looks at selected excerpts of Classical elegance at its finest, and considers the remarkable figure of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, a musician rightly prized – and mythologised – as one of the greatest ever known.

After studying music at Cambridge, and work-ing as a musical director for the RSC, National Theatre, and in London’s West End, Sandy Burnett spent a decade as one of the core team of music presenters on BBC Radio 3.