Endellion string quartet concert 5 June

[Robin Orton]

We arrived 40 minutes early to get seats on the front row, the best place to hear chamber music from; we could watch the fascinatingly different ways in which the players physically interacted with each other and the alarming way in which a big hank of hair seemed to have come adrift from the cellist's bow in the first half (didn't seem to bother him). But it was clear that everyone in the capacity audience, wherever they sat, was bowled over by this technically flawless performance: perfect intonation, perfect ensemble and wonderful tone - sweet and silky in the Haydn op 33 no 6 and dramatic and fiery in the scherzo and finale of the Mendelssohn op 44 no 3. I hadn't heard either of these pieces before; the Mendelssohn was a real revelation, masculine and complex with lots of dark and astringent touches.

The performance (with an extra cellist) of the Schubert C major quintet supported the widely held view that the slow movement is one of the most beautiful pieces ever written. It somehow conveys the atmosphere of Renascence or even medieval polyphony, a bit like the Beethoven Heiliger Dankgesang does. I must say however that to me the anguished middle section of the movement is a bit of a let-down; obviously you need a contrasting passage here, but I feel that Schubert hasn't quite risen to the challenge offered by the sublimity of the slow and quiet outer sections. Have I got a tin ear on this one?

Thanks, Sydenham Music.

[Tim Lund]

Agreed again, Robin, though maybe I'm yet to get Mendelssohn in the same way.

The Schubert slow movement was amazingly atmospheric - not sure if necessarily Renascence (isn't it Renaissance?). Listening to classical music - especially if not familiar - I sometimes find myself imaging it as a film sound track ... where is it going, what sort of story is this? I sometimes wish I knew more about it, and was able to identify the various themes, as they came back, transposed into some different key, or whatever. But would that spoil the magic?

As to being up close and personal - you're right - it's worth getting to these concerts early, especially of chamber music. Sitting rather further back, I had the feeling that the Endellion string quartet were giving us the music straight, rather than adding some star-quality as performers, which the soloists in the opening concert had done. Worthwhile, but asking a little more of the audience, which in the long run is maybe no bad thing. Maybe it's just inherent in chamber music.

[Robin Orton]

(isn't it Renaissance?)

Just an old fogey affectation of mine, Tim; I wondered whether anyone would notice. According to the OED, the Anglicised form 'Renascence' was invented by Matthew Arnold, and I know I've come across it elsewhere. I think it's rather sweet.

[Tim Lund]

Time to get down with the kidz, methinks Robin