PROGRAMME
Sunday, 20 April, 3.00pm The Lion Hotel, Shrewsbury
CARDUCCI STRING QUARTET
Spring Chamber Series II
Matthew Denton - violin
Michelle Fleming - violin
Eoin Schmidt-Martin - viola
Emma Denton - cello
String Quartet in D major Op.20 No.4 -- Haydn
String Quartet No. 1 in G minor -- Vaughan Williams
Quartet in F major Op 59 No. 1 ‘Razumovsky’ -- Beethoven
With Thanks to The Lion Hotel
On Monday 21st the Carducci are giving Workshops at Coleham Primary School for all of their juniors and also for children from St. Lucia 's Upton Magna.
These are made possible by the Cavatina Chamber Music Trust and Carducci Trust.
The Cavatina Trust also enable us to offer Free Tickets for Young People (8-22yrs) for the Carducci Concerts
Please encourage more young people to make use of this for their last visit this season on Sunday afternoon 11 May at Concord College.
String Quartet in D maj. Op.20 No.4 -- Haydn (1732-1809)
Allegro di molto; Un poco Adagio e affettuoso; Menuet alla Zingarese; Presto e scherzando
Early biographers of Haydn suggest that his first string quartets were written in place of the usual string trio, when an extra viola player was present at Baron von Furnberg's country estate.
Op 20 No.4 is part of a set of six quartets known as the "Sun" quartets due to the emblem of a rising sun that appeared on early editions. The set are of pivotal importance in the history of the Viennese classical style. As Donald Tovey said: "With Op 2O the historical development of Haydn's quartets reaches its goal; and further progress is not progress in any historical sense, but simply the difference between one masterpiece and the next." The music is also divided more equally between the four instruments.
The second movement is a set of four variations on a theme in D minor with each instrument in turn taking the dominant role. The Minuet in Hungarian style has a smiling trio with cello solo. The quartet has many elements of Hungarian gypsy music, most noticeably in the last movement with its rhythmic unpredictability and high spirits.
String Quartet No. 1 in G min -- Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Allegro moderate; Minuet & Trio: Tempo di minuetto; Romance: Andante sostenuto; Finale: Rondo Capriccioso - Allegro molto
Vaughan Williams completed his String Quartet in G minor in 1908, after his short period of lessons with Ravel. It was performed in London in the same year by the quartet led by Isidore Schwiller, and revised in 1921. It is natural that there should be echoes of Ravel and Debussy in the textures and melodic contours of the work, which opens with the viola statement of the theme, leading to a secondary section, marked Tranquillo. The material is subtly developed, eventually returning in a transformed recapitulation.
The second movement is a Minuet and Trio, with modal traces of folksong influence. The tonal centre shifts from E to C for the Trio, with a melody of descending contour.
The ternary form Romance, tender in mood, gently unfolds, with a central section of greater intensity. This is followed by a lively and varied Rondo Capriccioso, driven forward by its compelling rhythmic patterns, relaxing only briefly before a 5/4 Jugato.
Quartet in F maj Op.59 No.l 'Razumovsky' -- Beethoven (1770-1827)
Allegro; Allegretto vivace e sempre scherzando; Adagio molto e mesto; Allegro
This is the most obviously spacious of Beethoven's three Razumovsky Quartets, composed in 1806, during the richest period of his middle life. All his work at that time displays immense confidence while encompassing a great range of human expression. The Op 59 quartets themselves show a scope of experience quite beyond anything in music thitherto - except, that is, in his own work.
The first movement of this quartet has the kind of speciousness we associate with the 'Eroica' and its controlled tension is exemplified by the way the whole of its grand first theme keeps its feet off the ground; its harmony avoids an accented root and conveys an airborne feeling, without haste.
The second movement is a unique scherzo in tempo and form, a highly irregular sonata structure. Its mood is at once nervous and humorous, as if the first movement's monumental tension has left an unsettling effect, to be further accentuated in the dark Adagio, a kind of private funeral march.
At its close the air clears and admits the Arcadian Finale, based on a Russian theme for Count Razumovsky’s benefit.
CARDUCCI STRING QUARTET
Prize winners in no less than 7 International Chamber Music Competitions, the Carducci Quartet has quickly become recognised as one of Europe's top young string quartets. Prizes include 1st prize at the 2004 Kuhmo International Chamber Music Competition in Finland, and other major awards at the Bordeaux, London, Osaka and 'Charles Hennen' competitions. Most recently they won the 2007 Concert Artists Guild International Competition in the USA. The Strad has described the Quartet as "playing with constant variety, a masterclass in unanimity of musical purpose."
Graduates of the top music conservatoires in Britain and Ireland, they have studied with members of the Amadeus, Chilingirian, Takacs and Vanbrugh quartets and are the current Richard Carne Junior Fellows at Trinity College of Music. As part of the ProQuartet professional training programme in France they have studied with Gyorgy Kurtag, Valentin Erben of the Alban Berg Quartet and Paul Katz.
Following on from their critically acclaimed 2006 Purcell Room and Wigmore Hall debuts for the Park Lane Group, the quartet have been invited to perform at numerous contemporary music festivals and societies, including The "Second Glance" Festival in London, and the Cheltenham Contemporary Music Society.
They recently established their own record label 'Carducci Classics', launched with a CD of Haydn String Quartets. A further three discs featuring C20th works by G. Whettam, J. Horovitz and B. Boydell will follow by the end of the year. The Carduccis have also recorded (Vivaldi and Piazzolla) with the Katona Twins Guitar Duo for Channel Classics.
Tours abroad have taken the quartet to France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Belgium, Spain and Italy, where after performing numerous concerts at the Castagnetto-Carducci Festival, the quartet adopted the name "Carducci" with the blessing of the Mayor.
Highlights last season included a residency at Aldeburgh, the launch of their own festival in Highnam (Gloucestershire) and performances in the Verbier, Kilkenny, Three Choirs, Exeter and Kings Lynn festivals. Future projects include further performances at the Wigmore Hall and tours in Portugal and Japan.
The quartet’s educational work continues with performances for school children sponsored by the Cavatina Chamber Music Trust and numerous workshops in Ireland. They also run their own music courses in France for young musicians and have a strong link with the Gloucester Academy of Music. They were recently appointed 'Quartet in Residence' at the Cork School of Music in Ireland.
Last Updated : 21/04/2008