With a varied and exciting program, Roctet takes you on a journey through Eastern Europe, with works by Prokofiev, Gliere, Schostakovich and as the highlight of the concert an exuberant and virtuoso string octet by George Enescu.

Enescu's composition contrasts with Felix Mendelssohn's Octet, in which a solo violin part is set against an accompaniment of the other string instruments. Enescu's work, on the other hand, is “a true octet that finds its most natural expression in its hallucinatory convergent and divergent contrapuntal voices.”

Let yourself be warmed by the sound of Roctet's eight strings on this winter evening.

The music of Johann Sebastian Bach is actually indispensable during Christmas time. What could be better, therefore, to start our concert with parts from Bach's very last work 'Die Kunst der Fuge', in an arrangement by our principal Joris van Rijn.

A rarely performed work is the Double Quartet 'Novoselye - Housewarming' by the romantic Russian composer, “rediscovered” by Roctet and released on our debut CD. Nikolay Afanasyev. The piece is particularly rich in musical discoveries, offers an abundance of lilting melodies that are close to folk music.

The masterpiece is after the break Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy: Octet in E flat major op.20 on the programme. The octet was intended as a birthday present for the violinist and conductor Eduard Rietz (1802-1832), who certainly appreciated the virtuoso first violin part. The composer's nuanced, delicate writing style and his romantic, lyrical and lilting melodies make the Octet one of the most performed in the repertoire.

Tickets You can order by sending an email to tickets@roctet.nl. 

Tickets are also available at the venue.

Admission: €22.50 incl. Mulled wine

private concert

Two concertmasters, two first violinists, two violists and two cellists from the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra joined forces in 2016 and have since formed the only permanent string octet in the Netherlands: ROctet. In addition to perhaps the most beloved octet ever written, that of Felix Mendelssohn, we are introduced to the wonderful music of Woldemar Bargiel (1828-1897), contemporary and brother-in-law of Robert Schumann.

bargiel String Octet in C major op. 15a
Mendelssohn String Octet in E flat op. 20

the octet of strings 'ROctet' will hold a concert within the 'migrations'programme arch in the City Concert Hall on February 24† The concert starts at 8 pm, and the audience will have a chance to hear works by N. Afanasyev,  Carlos Michans and F. Mendelssohn.

ROctet is an octet of strings from the Netherlands that originated in 2016. Composed of the leading strings of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, this energetic ensemble has held many brilliant concerts in various concert series and performed live on radio and TV. Their debut CD 'Housewarming' was released by Challenge Records International.

The CD has received notable attention from leading Dutch media. Two radio stations in the Netherlands named it Album of the Week, and it received a 5-star review in the TROUW newspaper. In the January 2020 issue, an interview with ROctet appeared in the prominent classical music magazine Luister, where shortly afterwards the CD received a 10-star review. With the wonderful reviews that appeared in the French Diapason and the American Music Guide magazine, ROctet did not go unnoticed in the foreign press either, thus the tradition of this wonderful string formation remained alive.

Ensemble members: Joris van Rijn (violin), Dimiter Tchernookov (violin), Julija Hartig (violin), *Emi Ohi Resnick is replacing Masha Iakovleva (violin), Francien Schatborn (viola), Frank Brakkee (viola), Eveline Kraayenhof (cello), Anneke Janssen (cello).

Admission to the concert is free of charge.

ROctet presents HOUSEWARMING for Christmas

Afanasyev, Shostakovich and Mendelssohn

ROctet presents HOUSEWARMING

Afanasyev, Shostakovich and Mendelssohn

The Netherlands' only permanent string octet originated from the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and is called ROctet. Today it's playing Afanashevs Double String Quartet 'Novoselye' alongside Mendelssohn's iconic Octet.

Mendelssohn and Afanasyev
The ROctet plays Mendelssohn's iconic Octet. 'Exuberant, cheering music from a 16-year-old who gets a vibrant, almost perfect performance here', says de Volkskrant. In addition to this audience favourite, an unknown work by the Russian Nikolai Afanashev, a nineteenth-century violin virtuoso, will be played. To be Double String Quartet has the subtitle Novoselye, which means 'housewarming'. A music festival full of energy and melancholy.

The Netherlands' only permanent string octet originated from the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and is called ROctet. Today it plays Afanasyevs Double String Quartet 'Novoselye' alongside Mendelssohn's iconic Octet.

ROctet plays the most beautiful pieces from the octet repertoire by Afanasyev, Shostakovich and Mendelssohn.

The iconic string octet in E flat major (1825) by the then sixteen-year-old Mendelssohn had a major influence on composers after him. For example on the Danish Niels Gade, who succeeded Mendelssohn as conductor of the Gewandhausorchester. 50 years after Mendelssohn, the Russian composer Nikolay Afanasyev also wrote a string octet (1875).

Bach Selection from the Art of Fugue, BWV 1080
Michans Divertimento for eight strings 'Variations on a Tamil Lyric'
Shostakovich Two pieces for string octet
Mendelssohn Octet in E flat opus 20

Felix Mendelssohn's octet, written when he was 16, is a kind of violin concerto in small ensemble, with a natural star role for the first violin. An almost fairytale haze hangs over the string sounds. And it makes happy. Viola player Frank Brakkee says: 'Mendelssohn's music makes you feel ten years younger. It has youthful freshness, full of energy, excitement and beautiful melodies. Mendelssohn does that very well. If you're depressed for a moment, listen to Mendelssohn and you'll be able to take it again.'