Coffee Concerts

11th December 2022 – Quatuor Arod – Programme notes by Andrew Polmear and Chris Darwin


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Claude Debussy (1862-1918)  ‘String Quartet No 1 in G minor Op 10’ (1893)

Animé et très décidé
Assez vif et bien rythmé
Andantino, doucement expressif
Très modéré – Très mouvementé et avec passion

Debussy’s own title for this work is rather misleading: he wrote just one string quartet and it was the only work to which he gave an opus number (10 sounds like an impressive number for the ambitious young composer to have arrived at);  it was also the only work for which Continue reading 11th December 2022 – Quatuor Arod – Programme notes by Andrew Polmear and Chris Darwin

20th November 2022 – Paddington Trio – Programme notes by Andrew Polmear and Chris Darwin


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Judith Weir (b. 1954)    Your Light May Go Out (2004) 

Judith Weir is one of Britain’s most well known composers, indeed, she is Master of the King’s Music – the first female to hold this post. In an illuminating interview on Youtube she explains that she has no preconceptions about her compositions: ‘the wish as a composer is Continue reading 20th November 2022 – Paddington Trio – Programme notes by Andrew Polmear and Chris Darwin

16th October 2022 – Quatuor Agate – Programme notes by Andrew Polmear and Chris Darwin


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Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805)  String Quartet in G minor Op.32 No.5 (1780)

Allegro comodo
Andantino
Menuetto con moto
Allegro giusto

It’s a rare treat to find a string quartet concert that starts with a work by Boccherini. It’s a rarity that would have astonished Continue reading 16th October 2022 – Quatuor Agate – Programme notes by Andrew Polmear and Chris Darwin

Coffee Concert 20th November 2022 – Paddington Trio– Strings Attached Review by Michael Wilkinson

The multiple prize-winning Paddington Trio proved more than worthy visitors to this season’s Coffee Concerts, offering performances characterised by insight and evident enthusiastic commitment. In a varied and challenging recital, they held the audience enthralled, nowhere more obviously than in the long silence that greeted the end of Shostakovich’s 2nd Piano Trio.

The Paddington Trio are a new ensemble, formed in 2020 – during Continue reading Coffee Concert 20th November 2022 – Paddington Trio– Strings Attached Review by Michael Wilkinson

Newsletter #72

This newsletter is mainly to let you know of some changes in the Strings Attached committee as well as to remind you about the next Coffee Concert on Sunday 20th November.

Mary McKean, the Chair of Strings Attached since its inauguration in 2010, will be leaving us at the end of the year as she moves away from Brighton. We are sad to see her go and thank her for all she has done for us. We are delighted to let you know that her role will be taken on by Helen Simpson who has been a committee member for the past six years. Continue reading Newsletter #72

Coffee Concert 16th October 2022 – Quatuor Agate – Strings Attached Review by Michael Wilkinson

This season’s opening concert, by the admirable young French Quatour Agate proved as absorbing as it was demanding, for both players and audience alike. It was my first opportunity to hear them live, and their first appearance at a Coffee Concert: I hope very much Continue reading Coffee Concert 16th October 2022 – Quatuor Agate – Strings Attached Review by Michael Wilkinson