STRING QUARTET TEXTURES

MALCOLM MILLER attends the second performance
of Graham Whettam's Fourth String Quartet

The centrepiece of a recent concert by the Carducci String Quartet was the warmly received second performance of the String Quartet No 4 by the British composer Graham Whettam, a work notable for its mastery of the medium and gripping emotional intensity. The programme, which also included quartets by Haydn and Verdi was given at the inaugural concert of the Gloucester Music Society held at St Mary de Lode Church, Gloucester, UK on 11 October 2001.

The Carducci Quartet, formed in 1993 in Gloucester, has, during its eight years, won several awards and participated in the Amadeus course at the Royal Academy of Music in London. They have given numerous concerts including a notable programme of Beethoven and Shostakovich in Cheltenham, where they made the acquaintance of Graham Whettam. As a result of this meeting, the Carducci performed Whettam's Quartet No 1 at last year's Gloucester concert series, leading to their première this year of the 4th quartet. This work was originally to have received its première in 1997, when it was commissioned by the Arts Council for the Australian Sydney Quartet, but their performance was cancelled, and in the event, the première was given by the Carducci at the Hoylake Music Club, Merseyside on 10 September 2001, with a second performance in Gloucester, which I attended.

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