CHAMBER MUSIC TREAT

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 108, 7 May 1926, Page 4

CHAMBER MUSIC TREAT

KENDALL STRING QUARTETTE

It must have been with no small confidence in the musical public of New Zealand that Mr. E. J. Gravcstock undertook to conduct the present tou'v .through the Dominion o£ the Kendall String Quartette, four ladies of obvious higli musical attainment, combining their instrumental talents in the highest form o£ chamber music. The spadework of public string quartette performances in Wellington, at any rate, has hardly yet brought forth all the flowers of appreciation that might be desired; as a matter of fact, so little has been done to cultivate a love of this finest of all forms of cultured music in this country, far from the great centres of musical influence, that the Kendalls themselves may be. regarded as performing part of the spadework. The opening concert given at the Town Hall Concert Chamber last evening was the greatest treat of its kind since the memorable recitals of the Verbniggbcn Quartette. The audience was warmly appreciative, but not as large as the ladies deserved. The first violinist, Miss Dorothy Kendall, is a light player with marked freedom of style, and while the other members of the quartette may be ; more forceful executants of their respective instruments, it speaks largely of their ; musicianship that they subdue their own inclinations to a great extent to the authority and interpretation of the leader. In all that they played last night there was lightness, delicacy, and extreme refinement, perfect ensemble, and abundant expression and colour. Added to this, one felt in their playing that earnest study and' five years of constant work together had produced the closest musical understanding between them; but at the same time, notably in the Beethoven item, excellent as was their combination, they did not plumb the full depths of the master's music. The programme consisted of one classical work, Beethoven's quartette in B-fiat (Op. 18, No. 6); Dvorak's "Nigger" Quartette; and four modern pieces, by Speaight and M'Ewen. In both the classical and the modern the quartette showed themselves finished artists in every sense. The Beethoven work, one of the most interesting of the six which constitute the book, was played with freedom and reverence. The treatment of the delightful but tricky Scherzo and of the succeeding La Malinconia and Allegretto quasi Allegro, of somewhat contrasting moods, was specially enjoyable. The players showed that they were also seized with the spirit of the negro melodies in which Dvorak found much of the inspiration for his compositions. The second movement of the Dvorak quartette. Lento, based on a plaintive theme typical of the composer, left an outstanding impression, and the fourth, Vivace ma non troppo, was a further example of well-balanced playing of more spirited music. The Speaight numbers were "The Lonely Shepherd" and "Puck," and those of M'jHweu "The Dhu Lock" and "Red Murdoch." This was "picture music," as Miss Kendall aptly termed it, each piece conveying a definite impression. Of the four, the highly descriptive and fantastic "Puck" was perhaps the most appreciated. These smaller pieces illustrated to ' greater advantage than the most pretentious work the solo abilities of all four performers.