The Heartwood String Quartet appeared by the kind permission of The Royal Northern College of Music and consists of Audrey Doyle, violin, Bruno Robalo, violin, Michaela Jones, viola and Jasmine Blackshaw-Britton, cello.. The name ‘Heartwood’ comes from the spruce tree from which string instrument sound board tops are crafted.
This fourth concert of the season began with Mozart’s String Quartet No 15; according to Keith Osborne’s splendid programme notes, when this piece was composed by Mozart in one room, his wife, Constanze was giving birth to their first child, Raimund, in another. The second movement, it is said, reflects the sound of Constanze going through the pains of labour. Hmm! This was followed by Jessie Montgomery’s “Strum”, written in 2006. This composer is unknown to me but Strum is a very tuneful piece of music and is, I think, the best modern piece that we have heard this season. I never thought that I would say this – I preferred it to the Mozart!
After the interval the Quartet played Beethoven’s String Quartet Op 59 No 1. What a treat to listen to, composed by the Master. It is technically demanding but the Heartwood rose to the challenge and played it wonderfully well, it sounded ravishing, the Quartet has a clear, transparent sound. It was sheer bliss for the rapt audience.
The concert ended with the Danish String Quartet’s composition “Halling”. This music is based on a rhythmic traditional Norwegian dance, halling, and this is very athletic, the dancer circles around a hat held high on a stick with the aim of kicking it down. (From Keith’s programme notes). The music has a very Scandinavian sound and was quite different from the other pieces of music we heard this evening.
All in all, this was a splendid concert and was very much enjoyed by the audience.
CM