A Wonderful Sunday for String Quartet Playing

I started playing violin 10 years ago and I soon realized that musicians did not have to play music alone! Imagine that.  I could collaborate with other musicians to create art.  As soon as I was able to, I joined an orchestra.  After that, I formed a string quartet with other members of the Edmonton Youth Orchestra.  Since beginning to play violin, it has been my absolute joy to discover the string quartet repertoire.  There is no higher art form than the string quartet.  It is such a refined form of communication.

This is the view from the rose garden at the UBC Chan Centre for Performing Arts - glorious!

This afternoon, I got to hear some very fine quartet playing indeed.  The Vancouver Recital Society brought in one of England's finest young quartets, the Doric Quartet.  From the onset of the concert, they were fabulous at connecting with the audience.  

The first selection that they played was Haydn's String Quartet in g minor, opus 20, no. 3.  This piece was played with such grace and poise.  The gentlemen of the Doric Quartet vividly capture the high classical style in which Haydn wrote this quartet.  The performance showed immense intellect.  The third movement (poco adagio) was played with great sensitivity.  The dynamic contrast that the group achieved was particularly noteworthy.

Looking at the Burrard Inlet from UBC - stunning.

After the wonderful Haydn performance, the quartet played a composition by Twentieth Century composer, Erich Korngold.  It was completely refreshing to hear them program this work - a piece of music not heard as often as it should be.  The third movement was particularly intimate and moving.  In the final movement, the quartet indeed played con fuoco!  Their energy was incredible and the performance of this piece was very convincing.  Bravo to the quartet for including it on their program and introducing the audience to this wonderful work.

Finally, the quartet played Schubert's epic (and I mean EPIC) Death and the Maiden quartet, in d minor. This was a truly hauntingly beautiful performance. The music breathed, in particular during the first and second movement.  Their musicality and understanding of the score was simply exceptional.  The members of the quartet worked together to convey a frightening sense of drama that was very compelling.  

The refinement that the group showed made for a fabulous afternoon of music!  We, at An Die Musik, wish them the very best in what is surely going to be a very bright career.

P.S. You should really buy their Schubert disc. It's available on iTunes!