Endellion String Quartet with Thomas Carroll (cello)

String Quartet in C, Op. 59 No. 3 - Beethoven

Winter's Edge - Ian Wilson

String Quintet in C - Schubert

After Clifden, Carlingford, Castlebar, Letterkenny, Drogheda and Knocktopher, the Endellion's tour ended in Dublin Castle on Sunday, bringing to a close this year's provision of recitals by Music Network/ESB. It could be that after criss-crossing Ireland during the past week some of the bloom had gone off their playing, for their reading of Beethoven's third "Rasumovsky" Quartet was less than thrilling. After the mysterious opening bars it hung fire until the breathless fugal finale, which generated some of the usual excitement.

Beethoven had his "infinite variety", his ways of stimulating the listener's interest: composers of our time have to find new ways. Ian Wilson's Winter's Edge, which is the title he has given his first string quarter, succeeds in keeping expectancy high with unusual combinations of chords, melodies of unusual length for nowadays, and a clever use of the timbres available. He does not indulge in shock tactics, but the music demands a responsive alertness and this it got from the Endellion in a most sympathetic performance.

In a brief talk, Ian Wilson said he had been criticised for treating the string quartet as if it were a string orchestra. This criticism is much more applicable to Schubert's Quintet in C, at any rate in the way it was presented by the Endellion Quartet with Thomas Carroll playing the additional cello. Each musical gesture was determinedly larger than life but the music was given body at the expense of litheness. The cello pizzicatos, instead of magically appearing in the texture as if from nowhere, were almost intrusive, and in general the intimacy of chamber music was lost. The music was boldly stated, but it did not always sing.