the performers:

The Albion Quartet

the programme:

Maconchy String Quartet No. 3 + Waley-Cohen Snap Dragon + Beethoven String Quartet in F

about the music:

Elizabeth Maconchy (1907-1994), who wrote the first piece on the programme, is massively underrated. She was an Irish-English composer, a socialist activist, and a trailblazer.

Among the many great things Maconchy wrote in her long career are thirteen string quartets. She supposedly loved the idea of four equally important individuals engaged in intense debate, and is quoted as saying that ‘the best music is an impassioned argument’.

In String Quartet No. 3 you can really hear that. At the opening, see if you can sense the dark, rich and serious atmosphere. This atmosphere sets the scene for the two violinists to take turns to echo each other’s melodies, as if in heated conversation.

Next, they’ll play Snap Dragon by Freya Waley-Cohen. There’s so much to this piece: it’s challenging, jokey and fun. Listen to this bit: when the violin suddenly interrupts the piece descends into chaos, but the violist patiently waits before calming everything down with a folky melody.

The concert will end with Beethoven’s 16th String Quartet, Op. 135, the last quartet Beethoven wrote. There’s so much heartbreaking and uplifting emotional depth to this extraordinary piece, but it’s impossible to do it justice. Take a moment to close your eyes and listen to the beginning of the third movement here. It’s pure magic.

about the performers:

The Albion Quartet is made up of four musicians who are all big names in their own rights: Tamsin Waley-Cohen (violin), Emma Parker (violin), Ann Beilby (viola), and Nathaniel Boyd (cello).

They’re the kind of performers that turn every concert they give into a real experience, and have quickly become one of the UK’s top chamber ensembles. We know they’ll bring this programme to life in a really imaginative, vivid and engaging way.

the price:

£20