June 21, 2009
The Heath Quartet – Oliver Heath on violin, Rebecca Eves on violin, Gary Pomeroy on viola and Christopher Murray on cello – treated us to a stunning rendition of three very different musical pieces last night at the Jacqueline du Pré Music Building at St. Hilda’s. The first was a string quartet by Haydn in D Major, Op. 50 No. 6 The Frog, which was written apparently for Frederick the Great of Prussia who, as well as being a military man, was a lover and connoisseur of music. Nothing military about this piece, however, although it is very deliberate and precise in its structure. It was written at the time when Haydn and Mozart were dedicating their music to each other and this mutual admiration of each other’s work helped to develop the genre. This piece was pure Haydn, though, a largely uplifting quartet although the Poco adagio is rather melancholy. I did not hear the ‘ribbit’ of the frogs, but I was fascinated by the depth and quality of sound produced by these four talented young musicians and the way they work together so seamlessly.
If an evening of music includes Haydn and Mendelssohn, I think it is unlikely that the audience will like the discordant music of Thomas Adès and Oliver Heath tacitly admitted this in his introduction to the piece. ‘If you find this difficult,’ he said, ‘Just wait till the sixth movement which is definitely cheesy.’ Arcadiana, written in 1994, has seven movements, of which I, III, V and VII relate to water and the others are more earthbound – we were told. I found it as difficult to listen to as the musicians obviously did to play – Christopher Murray’s beatific smile wiped off his face as he concentrated on the music and Gary Pomeroy’s bow trailing more and more threads. Brain music it may be, but it was not ear music and I could not easily pick the transition from water to earthbound so I was relieved when we got to the ‘cheesy’ (and very beautiful) sixth movement. However, again, the performance was electric.
For me, the best piece was the very dark quartet no. 6 in F Minor, Op. 80, written by Mendelssohn when he returned from England to Germany to find that his sister had died in his absence (he was to die himself six months later at the tragically early age of 38). His grief, maybe despair, is written into this piece. The way the instruments, particularly in the first movement, play a theme one after the other, picking up on each other almost in anger, is very moving. Again, the musicality of the rendering and the feeling that the players expressed did the piece proud.
This quartet, formed only seven years ago, has gone far already and I am sure they will go much further.
If an evening of music includes Haydn and Mendelssohn, I think it is unlikely that the audience will like the discordant music of Thomas Adès and Oliver Heath tacitly admitted this in his introduction to the piece. ‘If you find this difficult,’ he said, ‘Just wait till the sixth movement which is definitely cheesy.’ Arcadiana, written in 1994, has seven movements, of which I, III, V and VII relate to water and the others are more earthbound – we were told. I found it as difficult to listen to as the musicians obviously did to play – Christopher Murray’s beatific smile wiped off his face as he concentrated on the music and Gary Pomeroy’s bow trailing more and more threads. Brain music it may be, but it was not ear music and I could not easily pick the transition from water to earthbound so I was relieved when we got to the ‘cheesy’ (and very beautiful) sixth movement. However, again, the performance was electric.
For me, the best piece was the very dark quartet no. 6 in F Minor, Op. 80, written by Mendelssohn when he returned from England to Germany to find that his sister had died in his absence (he was to die himself six months later at the tragically early age of 38). His grief, maybe despair, is written into this piece. The way the instruments, particularly in the first movement, play a theme one after the other, picking up on each other almost in anger, is very moving. Again, the musicality of the rendering and the feeling that the players expressed did the piece proud.
This quartet, formed only seven years ago, has gone far already and I am sure they will go much further.