Tomorrow (Friday) at 7.30pm, the Maxwell String Quartet will perform in Melrose Parish Church Hall. Their programme includes one of the greatest of all chamber works, Schubert’s Death and the Maiden Quartet No 14 in D minor.
Hailed as front-runners in young UK ensembles [Classical Music Magazine, 2013] the Maxwell Quartet is rapidly emerging as a dynamic and exciting force in the chamber music world, with a drive and commitment to expanding the string quartet repertoire.
Formed in 2010, when the players were postgraduate students at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, the quartet became Residency Artists for Enterprise Music Scotland 2011-2013, which saw them give several acclaimed concert tours.
First violin, Colin Scobie, is already established as one of the most creative and compelling violinists and chamber musicians of his generation, and has performed as a concerto soloist to wide acclaim. George Smith, second violin, has performed across the UK and abroad as a chamber musician, soloist and Scots fiddle player. David BaMaung, the violist, was one of four players in the prestigious Hallé String Leadership Scheme 2012-2013. The cellist, Duncan Strachan, began learning the cello aged 4 and, like George, attended St Mary’s School in Edinburgh and became Academic Scholar in Oxford.
The Death and the Maiden Quartet, composed in 1824, after the composer suffered a serious illness and realized that he was dying, is Schubert’s testament to death. This is preceded by Mendelssohn’s Opus 44, No. 3, quartet in E flat major, considered to be one of the composer’s most classical works, poised, balanced and well crafted.
Tickets at the door for non-members of Melrose Music Society are £12.
Accompanied children are admitted free.