Chiaroscuro Quartet

Duns Parish Church 22/7/26

Music at Paxton: Chiaroscuro Quartet

Alina Abragimova violin, Charlotte Saluste-Bridoux violin, Emilie Hörnlund viola, Claire Thirion cello

Duns Parish Church with its pews on three sides of the altar space makes an ideal venue for this morning’s chamber concert by the Chiaroscuro Quartet. Director Angus Smith’s decision to extend the range of local church performances at this year’s Music at Paxton to three, two at Norham Church and this one, has again proven popular with local people as well as regular Paxton attendees.  The four musicians take their places under the elegantly decorated organ and the nineteenth-century stained-glass windows for works by Haydn and Mendelssohn.

The Chiaroscuro Quartet were formed to play music of the Classical and Early Romantic Period on gut strings with historic bows. The upper strings stand to play while cellist Claire Thirion seated on a plinth holds the cello with her legs rather than use a spike.  Standing string players often provide an exciting sound and today is no exception: they play energetically with freedom of movement to create the changing dynamic shifts while their eye-contact aids precision. Haydn’s Quartet in E flat Opus 20 No 1 was written when the composer was 40. The allegro moderato first movement passes the music among the players, in echoes, unison and short canons.  Later the cello and the first violin engage in a swifter dialogue. It’s noticeable how the quartet linger over changes in mood, pace and volume to savour their full effect – a pleasing feature in both works. The Minuet opens in sprightly fashion with delicate playing in the reprise, while the Trio provides opportunities for fiercer playing and crunchy chords, showing off the sounds of these gut strings.  The Haydn is described as ‘sunny’ in Paxton’s brochure: the third movement, however, represents a temporary retreat from sunshine to shade. Quiet long legato lines live up to the markings affettuoso esostenuto, with chorale-like harmonies in the first section, changing to intermittent discordance as the players weave round each other in the second section, before the reassuring reprise. Feather-like bows on strings alternate with dramatic sforzandos as the speedy finale brings a return to sunshine.

Mendelssohn was only 18 when he wrote his String Quartet No 2 in A Minor but was already an experienced composer. The work is full of the vivacity and daring of youth and demonstrates how soon the young composer had mastered the joyful melodic invention seen in his later compositions.  First violin Alina Abragimova’s beautiful solo violin passage, which begins the reflective Adagio section of the first movement, is a fine tuneful example. Then the quartet launch into the exhilarating allegro vivace with the cello starting a swift counterpoint round the players. Again, we notice how the lightening collaborative responses of these standing musicians bring so much vigour to their playing. Towards the end of the movement the music moves slowly and quietly to a single thread in the violin. The slow movement itself allows us to savour the textures of the instruments as the viola begins a theme which moves around the players. The more animated middle section becomes tempestuous before a gradual diminuendo to the opening calm. The first violin opens the third movement Intermezzo playing a simple tune with pizzicato accompaniment, while the central section is a brisk fugue with the first violin dropping out to play rapid repeated notes. The return of the first section leads without a break into a cadenza for the first violin before the drama of the presto finale.  This is certainly youthful music of the most breathtaking kind, and the sudden changes of pace are given their full value by these terrific musicians. Finally, and movingly the music returns full circle to the first movement adagio, Mendelssohn realising early in his career, how this simple device brings such a satisfying close to the music.

This concert takes us halfway through a sunny and musically excellent Music at Paxton. Brian Bannatyne-Scott and I will review further concerts for the EMR.