KENDALL STRING QUARTET.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19801, 28 May 1926, Page 12

KENDALL STRING QUARTET.

AN ARTISTIC PERFORMANCE. A verv clever quartet of lady musician* in Miss 'Katherine Kendall. Miss Dorothy Brook, Miss Dorothy Jones, and Miss Edith Hanson was heard for the first time last evening in Burns Hall. The four ladies form what is known a* the "Kendall String Quartet, Miss Kendall and Miss Brook being the violinists. Miss Jones the viola player, and Miss Hanson the ’cellist. It was quickly recognised by the fairly large audience present that the four ladies were all expert instrumentalists, and entitled to rank very high as joint interpreters of classical music, of which they appear to have made a close study, and also of compositions that perhaps do not strictly come under that category, but nevertheless cannot be regarded as by any means commonplace. It was what is usually styled a high-class concert that the quartet gave, yet there was sufficient comparatively light music in the programme to make the concert popular with everybody. The evening was, unfortunately, very cold, and the plaveis evidently realised the fact. The applause of the audience always reached the recall stage, but with such & chilly atmosphere the ladies declined to respond further than to return and bow their acknowledgments until the last item had been played, when a catchy little composition by Speaight, named “Puck,” was repeated. There were in all six items for performance, the two principal ones being Beethoven’s string quartet in B flat, op. 18, No. 6, and Dvorak’s string quartet in F, familiarly known as ‘Nigger/’ on account of the style of composition. The concert opened with the Beethoven selection, but before it was played Miss Kendall made a few remarks regarding the work, explaining that she did not desire to give a lecture, but merely wanted to give those present some idea of the music. She referred to the great beauty of the work, and said that while Beethoven was influenced by Haydn' and Mozart in his competitions, he showed in the La Malinconia movement some impatience with tradition. The scherzo had some innovations introduced into it. The allegro con brio, with which the quartet opens, was most artistically played, and the beautiful, continuous _ harmonies * produced by the four instruments could not fail to make a deep impression on an attentive listener. The movement, where necessary, was treated with great delicacy, and the honours at the close may be said to have been evenly divided between the four ladies. The playing of the first movement of the quartet was quite sufficient in itself to show the class Of artistes that were being listened to. The adagio ma non troppo was exquisitely played, and a richness of tone pervaded it throughout. The third movement was the scherzo, which was delivered with great crispness. In it there was plenty of work' for the leading violin. The La Malinconia, merging into the allegretto quasi allegro with which the quartet ends, was most artistically treated. There was an organ-like tone about much of It, and the perfect unity of the playing of the ladies coaid not escape observation. The parts were nicely and evenly balanced. It was the big work of the evening, and a perfect example of artistic playing. Speaking of Dvorak’s quartet, Miss Kendall mentioned that Dvorak was born in Bohemia. His music was strongly characteristic of the national music of Bohemia. There was always a wonderful rhythm in it, and as undercurrent of tragedy. On the first movement of the quartet (allegro ma non troppo) being entered upon, it was impossible not to notice the marked contrast between the music and that just previously heard. Of course, the theme was entirely different, and to a very great extent accounted for this. The players seemed to be thoroughly impressed with the form in which the composition should be presented, and imparted to the performance just the treatment required. The second movement, the lento, is plaintive in character, and contained a good deal of pizzicata work for the ’cello that was particularly effective. This was taken up by the violins later, and the movement finally died away in a beautifully played diminuendo. The molto vivace was brilliantly played. The vivace ma non troppo movement, with which the quartet terminated, bore a closer resemblance to negro minstrelsy than what had gone before. There was a good deal of staccato work in the movement, which was crisply given by the four instrumentalists. Dvorak’s quartet was quite as well performed as the opening selection, though the music was, of course, of quite a different class. In Speaight’s "Lonely Shepherd, ’’ Miss Jones became prominent with her viola, and proved herself an expert soloist. The lead was transferred to Miss Hanson, and it was made evident that she was an accomplished ’cellist. In strong contrast came a freakish little piece of music by the same composer, named "Puck,” ami this was very cleverly played. An appropriately weird complexion was given to M’Ewen’s ’’The Dhu Lock,” in which the cello played an important part, and the concert concluded with “Red Murdoch,’’ by the same composer. Another concert will be given to-mor-row evening.