Doing pretty well here

This was Canberra Strings at Wesley and they were playing Mendelssohn String Quartet no.2 Amin. Barbara introduced it and it was descriptive. She talked of the influence of Beethoven, the similarity to an earlier song by Mendelssohn seemingly written for an amour, the fugue in the second movement and how it's introduced by viola leading to violin 2 and how it's inverted and how it intensifies as repeating instrumental lines gradually arrive after fewer bars. All interesting. Otherwise, the work took the whole concert and it was a pleasure. Four movements; lovely interplays and great playing all around; varied tempos and passions, but eminently confortable. It's great return to Canberra with stuff like this. Before the concert, hearing of my listens overseas, said "we do pretty well here" and it's true. We do and this was one example. A pleasure.

Canberra Strings comprises Barbara Jane Gilby and Pip Thompson (violins), Lucy Carrigy-Ryan (viola) and Samuel Payne (cello). They played Mendelssohn at Wesley.

Them changes

The program had to change close to the event for unpredictable reasons but these are professionals and the replacement was great. From Transfiguration to Quintessence. The replacement may not have been quite so adventurous (Schoenberg + Richard Strauss > Mozart + Mozart), but it was lovely music and it was beautifully played. The group was Canberra Strings led by BJ Gilby with members of the Canberra Symphony Orchestra in the High Court foyer and the music was Mozart. So worthy and immensely attractive. First up was the String quintet Gmin, then a swap of players for the Clarinet quintet Amaj. Barbara introduced it with short hints on the various movements: Allegro; Minuet/trio with 3 dissonant chords to listen for; slow with muted strings (other than cello); the final in Gmaj and "quite jolly". The Clarinet quintet was written by Mozart for a friend and was perhaps the first work for this combination. Movements: fast; slow; minuet and two trios (MTMT); slow to upbeat. That one was particularly recognisable in through various movements. I imagine it's an absolute standard of the clarinet repertoire. I missed taking notice of the dissonant chords, but for my jazz ears they may seem fairly tame. I did notice the firm and satisfying cello tone and especially its prominence when the other strings were muted. I loved the clarinet in its attractive lines. To my ears, it was particularly suited to this space, perhaps because it was quite loud and the echo/reverb was significant and enhancing. But a lovely and formidably performed concert in the resonant space of the High Court. Much enjoyed.

Canberra Strings performed in the High Court Foyer. CS comprised BJ Gilby (violin, leader), Pip Thompson (violin), Jack Chenoweth and Lucy Carrigy-Ryan (viola), Samuel Payne (cello) and Eloise Fisher (clarinet).

This is CJBlog post no. 2,100

4>8

The Mendelssohn is a classic of the form and the Spohr is a prelude to it. These are two pieces for 8 string players. Spohr's was written at age 40 when he was well respected; Mendelssohn's when he was just 16. Spohr's is a double quartet, inventive but essentially two string quartets playing together. Mendelssohn's is more a work for 8 players playing together, soaring, lyrical, intricate, as the program says, with exuberant joy. Famous enough that you're expected to remember the first time you heard it. I remember, at least, hearing this group do it some time back at Tuggeranong Arts Centre. The group is a relatively new one, eight strings, professional players from the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, led by BJ Gilby, with various faces mostly from front desks. Impressive. And well presented. Quiet and effective entries and bows. Barbara likes that: you have to be the musician people expect, confident in performance. Her style shows in a presence that's engaging. This was another in the High Court foyer, so a large audience, well versed, frequent attendees, listening with that reverberence of concrete and marble. And the black against the bright, sun-lit, tree-blown windows. Professional, serious but relieved, well punctuated music; phrases and scales dropped from strings like honey; busy and intricate in the passing of passages through the members. I found it fascinating to follow some of these passages, starting with one cello then to the other, through violas to violins and a final exhuberant embellishments on the first violin. Wonderful music in a wonderful space with wonderful local musos. Much enjoyed

Canberra Strings comprised Barbara Jane Gilby, Doreen Cumming, Pip Thompson and Isobel Ferrier (violins), Jack Chenoweth and Lucy Carrigy-Ryan (viola) and Matisha Panagoda and Julia Janiszewski (cello).

Indulgence

Barbara Jane Gilby introduced the Mozart by saying we should ignore the images and pre-conceptions of Mozart, formed by film, TV and the rest, and listen to his music. That's how we'll best know him. They were about to play Mozart String Quartet no.4 Gmin K.516. It was written late in his life. Things weren't going well and his mood was sombre. Barbara's notes observe that the introduction to the fourth and final movement summarises his melancholy, but that the listener is finally sent away in a happy frame of mind. Also to note was Mozart's contrariness, so this work was written in five voices as in the Baroque, despite most German writing of the time being in 4 voices. Whatever, this was a strong concert out of the CSO and some younger performers, not least Sarah, just 15 , in her first performances on her second instrument. And mozart is always so pleasurable that you can sink into his comforting melodies and just indulge and so I did.

The Canberra Strings Ensemble performed Mozart String Quintet in Gmin K.516 at Wesley. Performers were Barbara Jane Gilby and Pip Thompson (violins), Lucy Carrigy-Ryan and Sarah Zhu (violas) and Samuel Payne (cello).

Antipodes

Barbara Jane Gilby noted one of her sayings "No practice is ever wasted". She was introducing the Canberra Strings, a new string quartet formed to visit New Zealand as musical ambassadors. Another earthquake intervened and the tour was called off at the last minute, but at Wesley we got to hear a program of modern Australian music prepared for this tour. The music was from 1912-2002. The composers were Alfred Hill, Peter Sculthorpe and Graeme Koehne. The music was widely varied. I also enjoyed hearing these players, who I've heard mostly in the context of a symphony orchestra, so a big group, in the intimate setting of a string quartet. Each individual with his/her own independent role and leading statement, but all merged into a compositional unity. And each with a clear voice, emerged from the melded symphonic tone. The Alfred Hill was from the Carnival, so light and pleasurable. The Sculthorpe was anything but. His String quartet no.6 was dedicated to Bonny Drysdale, a friend recently deceased. It is sombre, with movements marked Lento molto, Lento and Lento. There was some intriguing harmonic colour here, painful statements from the various strings, some rhythmic interest, but heavy going. I enjoyed the Koehne most, Whirling dance, from his String quartet no.2 Shaker Dances, all odd times and mingling tempos and simple joys. You could feel the interest and raw newness of this group with music that seemed still new and developing and this was part of the excitement. They formed in October at the request of government, so this is a business proposition amongst the artistic purposes, but no loss there (much music is and has to be). I enjoyed this immensely and look forward to future outings, for the players and the localness and the interesting music they unearthed, but also for the exposed musicality of the string quartet format.

The Canberra Strings are Barbara Jane Gilby (violin), Pip Thompson (violin), Lucy Carrigy-Ryan (viola) and Alex Voorhoeve (cello). They performed at Wesley.