The National String Quartet Foundation presents The Vanbrugh and Friends performing three works from the extended chamber music repertoire.
Programme
Boccherini - String Quintet in E major G.402 [1802]Beethoven - String Quintet in C minor Op.104 [1795/1817]
Dvořák - String Quintet in E flat major Op.97 ‘American’ [1893]
Cellist-composer Luigi Boccherini was the quintessential composer of quintets, whose lovingly crafted works reside in a secluded, shadowed space enjoyed by lovers of melancholy. The twelve quintets for two violins, two violas and cello have yet to reach the full light of day, despite their innovative harmonies and surprising turns of events. This is the very last of his well over one hundred quintets for various combinations.
Beethoven wrote his darkly beautiful C minor piano trio Op.1 No.3 in 1795 and it became one of his most popular chamber works. He published this string quintet arrangement in 1819. West Cork Music’s Francis Humphrys writes eloquently of Dvořák’s viola quintet: ‘Its unquestioning overflowing of delicious tunes marks it as belonging to an age of innocence, unlike the intellectual questing of most contemporary music, which is entirely alien to Dvořák’s world. Instead we have an irresistibly infectious joy in music-making.’
About The Vanbrugh and Friends
Over three decades, The Vanbrugh has given close to three thousand concerts, presenting the chamber music repertoire to audiences throughout Ireland, Europe, the Americas, and the Far East. Commercial recordings include more than thirty CDs of repertoire ranging from the complete Beethoven quartets to many contemporary Irish works. In 2016, the group was presented with the National Concert Hall’s Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of their contribution to music in Ireland.
Keith Pascoe, Simon Aspell, and Christopher Marwood continue to perform together as the nucleus of the Vanbrugh and are joined by guest artists for performances of a wide range of chamber music repertoire.
Keith Pascoe was invited to join the Vanbrugh Quartet in 1998 whilst still a London-based musician. He studied violin, piano, chamber music, and conducting at the Royal College of Music under Jaroslav Vanecek, Eileen Reynolds, Aeolian and Amadeus Quartets, and Norman Del Mar. In 1985, he founded the Britten Quartet who became EMI exclusive artists having previously made numerous recordings with other labels, touring the world for ten years. After the Britten Quartet disbanded, it wasn’t long before he heard Ireland’s call..
Marja Gaynor is a Cork-based violinist and viola player. She specialises in Baroque music and is a member of Irish Baroque Orchestra and Camerata Kilkenny, recording and touring with both groups regularly. She has also performed with Irish Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Marsyas, Dunedin Consort, London Handel Players, King's Consort and Helsinki Baroque Orchestra. Marja is known as a versatile musician at home in many different styles, a fluent improviser, as well as arranger and curator. Her string arranging credits include Oscar-winning song "Falling Slowly" from the movie Once, and Marja is also a long time member of the cult band Interference.
Simon Aspell is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, London, and one of Ireland’s leading viola players. Aside of his work with Vanbrugh Quartet, Simon has also had a successful career as an orchestral principal, guesting with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, as well as appearing as soloist and recitalist throughout Ireland and the UK. A frequent guest with numerous ensembles, Simon has also joined his colleagues at the RIAM’s chamber group ACE (Academy Chamber Ensemble), performing regularly throughout Ireland. Simon teaches viola and chamber music at MTU Cork School of Music and at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, in Dublin.
Ed Creedon enjoys a varied career as a viola player, performing chamber music, in recitals and as an orchestral musician. Recent performances include the National Concert Hall Chamber Music Gathering, tours throughout Ireland with the Lir String Quartet, tours to Finland, France and India with Camerata Ireland as well as solo performances with Camerata Ireland and Barry Douglas. Chamber music highlights include performances with the Vanbrugh Quartet, as well as appearances with the Ficino Ensemble in Dublin, the Piatti Quartet in the U.K., at the Ortús Festival in Cork, and repeat invitations to the Clandeboye Festival in Belfast and the Killaloe Festival of Chamber Music.
Christopher Marwood graduated from Cambridge University in 1983 and went on to study at London’s Royal Academy of Music and Conservatorium Maastricht. Cello teachers included Florence Hooton, David Strange, Ralph Kirshbaum, William Pleeth and Radu Aldulescu. His chamber music mentor for several years was Emmanuel Hurwitz.
He co-founded the West Cork Chamber Music Festival in 1996 and remains director of the Festival’s masterclass programme. He is director of the National String Quartet Foundation, planning and raising funds for more than fifty concerts annually. His recent CD of works by Boris Tchaikovsky was nominated for the 2019 International Classical Music Awards.