As I've said repeatedly, Armidale has a rich musical life, a view that an event we witnessed this weekend corroborated. Between 1975 and 1982, the University of New England was host to the New England Ensemble, a chamber music quartet. Believe or not, this group of young performers from a small rural town had many successful overseas tours throughout Asia, Europe and the Americas, often playing at top musical venues.
Alas, members of the quartet went their separate ways and left town but, surprisingly, they have recently reformed after a lapse of 40 years. And we were privileged yesterday to listen to this brilliant group whose skills appear unaffected by the passage of time. The picture below shows the quartet: Robert Harris (viola); Andrew Lorenz (violin); Wendy Lorenz (piano); and Janis Laurs (cello).
Their program was extensive and received rapturously:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Quartet in G minor. K.478 (1756-1791)
Johan Severin Svendsen's Romance in G. Op. 26 (1840-1911)
Johannes Brahms' Hungarian Dance No 2 (1833-1897)
Ernest Bloch's Jewish Song (1880-1959)
Rebecca Clarke's Chinese Puzzle (1886-1979)
Enrique Granados' Intermezzo from Goyescas (1867-1916)
Gaspar Cassado's Los Requebros (1897-1966)
Johannes Brahms' Piano Quartet in C minor Op. 60
The dates in brackets reveal a wide range of epochs when the works performed were written. That was one of the nice things about this event - a wide variety of musical styles. However, the first and last items represent the pinnacle of piano quartets and were much more lengthy than most of the others.
I wonder if there's a correlation between listening to 'classical music' and playing contract bridge! I saw enough players from our bridge club to have a 4-table event and I suggested to several of them that when we attend future concerts we should bring along decks of cards to play bridge during the intermission! Perhaps that's a bit fanciful because I noticed that most of the bridge 'clique' were snappily drinking wine.
Just one final reflection. If you have a look at my last few posts you will see that retirement can be enlivened by a wide variety of experiences, issues, events, and so on. Dull moments are a rarity.
AS
Alas, members of the quartet went their separate ways and left town but, surprisingly, they have recently reformed after a lapse of 40 years. And we were privileged yesterday to listen to this brilliant group whose skills appear unaffected by the passage of time. The picture below shows the quartet: Robert Harris (viola); Andrew Lorenz (violin); Wendy Lorenz (piano); and Janis Laurs (cello).
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Quartet in G minor. K.478 (1756-1791)
Johan Severin Svendsen's Romance in G. Op. 26 (1840-1911)
Johannes Brahms' Hungarian Dance No 2 (1833-1897)
Ernest Bloch's Jewish Song (1880-1959)
Rebecca Clarke's Chinese Puzzle (1886-1979)
Enrique Granados' Intermezzo from Goyescas (1867-1916)
Gaspar Cassado's Los Requebros (1897-1966)
Johannes Brahms' Piano Quartet in C minor Op. 60
The dates in brackets reveal a wide range of epochs when the works performed were written. That was one of the nice things about this event - a wide variety of musical styles. However, the first and last items represent the pinnacle of piano quartets and were much more lengthy than most of the others.
I wonder if there's a correlation between listening to 'classical music' and playing contract bridge! I saw enough players from our bridge club to have a 4-table event and I suggested to several of them that when we attend future concerts we should bring along decks of cards to play bridge during the intermission! Perhaps that's a bit fanciful because I noticed that most of the bridge 'clique' were snappily drinking wine.
Just one final reflection. If you have a look at my last few posts you will see that retirement can be enlivened by a wide variety of experiences, issues, events, and so on. Dull moments are a rarity.
AS
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