Fringe 2024 Ligeti Quartet performs Anna Meredith Queen's Hall 16th August Review
Ligeti Quartet were at the Queen’s Hall tonight with a one night only Fringe performance that for anyone expecting to hear the traditional sounds of a string quartet would have been a surprise.
The quartet, Freya Goldmark (violin 1), Patrick Dawkins (violin 2), Richard Jones (viola), and Val Welbanks (cello), take their name from the Hungarian composer György Ligeti (1923-2006), and they have an international reputation for constantly pushing the boundaries of what people expect from them musically.
Tonight’s concert focused around the works of Anna Meredith, a composer with whom they have had a long association, and who also frequently challenges expected norms in her music. This close collaboration between the two over the years has led to the 2023 album “Nuc” which features the first studio recordings by Anna Meredith made for a string quartet which have been arranged by Richard Jones.
The title of the album takes its name from the beekeeping world and Wikipedia describes it as – “A nuc, or nucleus colony, is a small honey bee colony created from larger colonies, packages, or captured swarms. A nuc hive is centred on a queen bee, the nucleus of the honey bee colony”. The comparisons here are obvious.
Music from this album performed tonight included (amongst others) “Turgeno” a work that explores the possibilities in sound that are utilised by the techniques for playing stringed instruments and inspired by the throat singing traditions of diverse cultures around the world and “A Short Tribute to Teenage Fanclub”.
This evening’s musical programme also explored some of Anna Meredith’s earlier works and perhaps one of the most unusual works tonight was MRIIIIIIII, an 8 minute performance piece based on the sound that you hear when inside an MRI scanner. If you have ever had an MRI scan then you will know how perfectly this experience is captured in this work.
There is no normal musical definition of a string quartet than you can apply to tonight’s performance by Ligeti Quartet. They were in their own exploratory space of sound, and few quartets out there at the moment have either the technical skills or the personal inquisitiveness (maybe even courage) to visit the sonic spaces that they were exploring here at the Queen’s Hall.
Review by Tom King © 2024
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
The quartet, Freya Goldmark (violin 1), Patrick Dawkins (violin 2), Richard Jones (viola), and Val Welbanks (cello), take their name from the Hungarian composer György Ligeti (1923-2006), and they have an international reputation for constantly pushing the boundaries of what people expect from them musically.
Tonight’s concert focused around the works of Anna Meredith, a composer with whom they have had a long association, and who also frequently challenges expected norms in her music. This close collaboration between the two over the years has led to the 2023 album “Nuc” which features the first studio recordings by Anna Meredith made for a string quartet which have been arranged by Richard Jones.
The title of the album takes its name from the beekeeping world and Wikipedia describes it as – “A nuc, or nucleus colony, is a small honey bee colony created from larger colonies, packages, or captured swarms. A nuc hive is centred on a queen bee, the nucleus of the honey bee colony”. The comparisons here are obvious.
Music from this album performed tonight included (amongst others) “Turgeno” a work that explores the possibilities in sound that are utilised by the techniques for playing stringed instruments and inspired by the throat singing traditions of diverse cultures around the world and “A Short Tribute to Teenage Fanclub”.
This evening’s musical programme also explored some of Anna Meredith’s earlier works and perhaps one of the most unusual works tonight was MRIIIIIIII, an 8 minute performance piece based on the sound that you hear when inside an MRI scanner. If you have ever had an MRI scan then you will know how perfectly this experience is captured in this work.
There is no normal musical definition of a string quartet than you can apply to tonight’s performance by Ligeti Quartet. They were in their own exploratory space of sound, and few quartets out there at the moment have either the technical skills or the personal inquisitiveness (maybe even courage) to visit the sonic spaces that they were exploring here at the Queen’s Hall.
Review by Tom King © 2024
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
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