Concert - Engegård Quartet

Boyce (arr Derek Smith) String Quartet arrangement of Symphony No 2 Grieg String Quartet No 1 in G minor Op 27 Beethoven String Quartet in E flat major Op 127

The Engegård Quartet of Norway have already made a huge impact in Herefordshire: in back-to-back concerts in Autumn 2023 at Hellens, Much Marcle and the Lion Ballroom and, earlier this year, at Hay-on-Wye. Formed under the midnight sun in Lofoten in 2005, and now one of Scandinavia’s most sought-after classical ensembles, they have received true international acclaim through their performances at many of Europe’s finest venues and also through their discography. An arrangement of a very short Boyce Symphony opens the concert. Grieg’s G minor String Quartet which follows is his only complete work in this genre to have survived (he left one unfinished and a third one is lost). It is unmistakably Nordic and bears many of the characteristics of Grieg’s genius: songful lyricism, colour, atmosphere, dance-like elements. It is regarded as one of the outstanding string quartets of the late 19th century. Beethoven’s Op 127 is the first of the composer’s five late string quartets which, by any standard, are among the pinnacles of achievement in Western classical music. In it, the material is reduced to its bare minimum, heightening its impact; a new harmonic language emerges; moments of silence create extraordinary tension; and there are passages of transcendent beauty, especially in the slow movement.