"Impeccably crafted and full of rhythmic and harmonic invention, Dances, Songs & Hymns for Friendship is a six-movement string quartet informed by the composer's observations of the four musicians both in and out of rehearsal she even watched them making tea! It opened with Spin, in which bold unison passages dissolved into fragmentary solos. Waley-Cohen's musical fingerprints here were spicy, but rarely ventured beyond a world that Bartok, for example, would have recognised. It suited the Sacconi's tightness of ensemble and muscular tone,"
"Subsequent movements included the pensive Sing, with an aching melody reminiscent of a deconstructed folk song; Play, where dancing syncopations hinted at eastern Europe; the hypnotically skirling Step; and Pray, a luminous meditation in which a beautifully finessed violin line floated over hushed chords to end in a delicate pizzicato coda. The concluding Be, saw a lyrical fragment passed around the quartet before intricate textures transitioned into a gentle simplicity."
Founded at the Royal College of Music in 2001, the Sacconi Quartet marked its silver jubilee with a program balancing classical staples and a newly commissioned work. Freya Waley-Cohen's Dances, Songs & Hymns for Friendship is a six-movement quartet shaped by observations of the four players, featuring movements such as Spin, Sing, Play, Step, Pray and Be. The premiere displayed rhythmic and harmonic invention, strong ensemble tightness and muscular lower-register tone. Haydn's Op.33 No.3 "The Bird" felt muted under a focus on texture and blend. Beethoven's late A minor No.15 suited the group's brooding melancholy. Playing was organic with occasional intonation lapses.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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