FOUNTAINHALL at the CROSS CHURCH
Monday 10th February, 2025
BINGHAM STRING QUARTET:
Steve Bingham First Violin
Hilary Sturt Second Violin
Brenda Stewart Viola
James Halsey Cello
PROGRAMME:
Joseph Haydn (1732 – 1809)
String Quartet in F, Op.77 No.2
1. Allegro Moderato
2. Menuetto: Presto ma non troppo – Trio
3. Andante
4. Finale Vivace assai
Elizabeth Maconchy (1907 – 1994)
String Quartet No.5
1. Molto Lento – Allegro molto
2. Presto
3. Lento expressivo
4. Allegro
Caroline Shaw (b. 1982)
Entr’acte for String Quartet 2011
Felix Mendelssohn (1809 – 1847)
String Quartet in D, Op.44 No.1
1. Molto allegro vivace
2. Menuetto – un poco allegretto
3. Andante espressivo ma con moto
4. Finale – Presto con brio
Encore:
Stephan Koncz (1984- ) Principal cellist of the Berlin Philharmonic
Arrangement for String Quartet of Waltzing Matilda
REVIEW:
The four works chosen by the Bingham Quartet for their concert on Monday evening covered an amazingly wide range of musical styles, suggesting that the repertoire for String Quartet at present seems almost limitless. They opened with the final Quartet composed by Joseph Haydn in 1799. He has been referred to as the father of the String Quartet. This was followed by the fifth of thirteen Quartets by Elizabeth Maconchy, composed in 1948 and published in1950. Entr’acte for String Quartet by the American composer Caroline Shaw is dated 2011. Finally the String Quartet in D, Op.44 No.1 by Felix Mendelssohn dates to 1838. Timewise a very wide selection, and I am pleased to be able to report that the Bingham Quartet captured the challenging range of musical styles in their programme to perfection. I should also mention that the two works in the centre of their programme were by woman composers, something that surely is to be admired. The choice of a Quartet by Elizabeth Maconchy, a brilliant composer who does not get enough attention, is particularly laudable.
The players of the Bingham Quartet brought clarity and shapeliness to their performance of the opening movement of Haydn’s Quartet in F, Op. 77 No.2. The main theme was made to sing out strongly along with Haydn’s complex fast decorative writing which in some performances can overtake everything else. I was impressed by the players’ use of detailed dynamic variation which was so expressive, underlining the shapeliness of their performance. The second movement, marked Menuetto but at the same time Presto is rather fast for a minuet. This movement leans more towards a Scherzo. However the cello marked out the idea of dance steps quite splendidly and the Trio section was played with considerable refinement.
The third movement marked Andante did have the elegance of refined dance to it. The opening duet between first violin and cello was delightful. I enjoyed the way in which, later on, the second violin and viola coloured in the music beautifully. There is a point in this movement where Haydn has a bit of fun, seeming to bring the music to a close, but no! There was much more to come.
The Finale had splendidly vigorous playing from the cello. The music was fast, playful, ticklish even. I loved it!
The String Quartet No. 5 by Elizabeth Maconchy was absolutely fascinating. I felt she composed with one foot in the romantic era, the other, particularly where the music got faster, in the modern era. The opening movement had passion and romance, towards Mahler perhaps, but beyond that in Maconchy’s own way proving that dissonance in itself can be used to express passion. The second movement marked Presto was edgy, explosive, expressive and rhythmically stimulating. The third movement Lento expressivo was really quite romantic with impressionist harmonies played beautifully by the Bingham Quartet. The cello gave us the throbbing heartbeat of the music.
The Finale had just the hint of fugue at one point. The Bingham gave us forceful expressiveness and their pizzicato playing was splendid. What a wonderfully exciting piece of music this Fifth Quartet was!
After the interval came a piece of music that almost put everything else in the shade. Our excellent programme note quoted words by the composer Caroline Shaw herself. “I love the way some music, like the minuets of (Haydn’s) Op. 77 suddenly take you to the other side of Alice’s Looking Glass in a kind of absurd, subtle, technicolor transition”. James Halsey listed some of the unusual string techniques used by Shaw in composing her piece Entr’acte for String Quartet. Some of these, like harmonics, or three different kinds of pizzicato, might have been familiar to some listeners but the strange whispering sounds made by bows sliding almost but not quite soundlessly over the strings was surely new? I particularly liked the rolling arpeggios played at one point by the viola. I felt that Shaw had captured the ghost of Haydn’s Menuetto and Trio and given it new and marvellously colourful new string life in our age. As James Halsey pointed out, these advanced techniques were used to create an expressive piece of music and not just incorporated in order to say, “Listen, now I’m adding another new technique from my list”. The many people I talked to after the concert all said they had loved this new piece!
Well! What could the Bingham Quartet follow Caroline Shaw’s new piece with. What else but a wonderful richly coloured performance of the String Quartet in D, Op.44 No.1 by Mendelssohn. The opening movement has shimmering strings reminiscent of the fairy music from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Above that soars Mendelssohn’s seductive melodic writing. The second movement had gentle flowing music, harmonically honeyed and delicious. The third movement was delightfully well paced with pizzicato cello and a beautiful first violin solo.
In the Finale, the music took flight once again with fiery positivity in the playing and moments of delicacy too. I enjoyed watching James Halsey’s fingers dancing furiously over the fingerboard towards the end. As our programme note said “This is just sit back and enjoy it music”. I certainly did.
Oh! but it was not over yet. We were treated to a short piece which was the perfect encore. It was an arrangement in crazy bluegrass style of Waltzing Matilda by Stephan Kronz. Yahoo! How marvellous was that!
ALAN COOPER