Merlin Music Society Review March 2007
We attended the Vogler String Quartet recital in the Blake Theatre as part of the Merlin Music Society’s 44th season of concerts. They played a varied repertoire consisting of three very different pieces by: Haydn, Beethoven and Bartók. The Berlin based string quartet have toured widely since their formation in 1985 and still retain their original members.
The concert began with Haydn’s quartet opus 64 number 6. This piece, in E flat major, is characteristic of Haydn’s classical style. Written for Johann Tost, violinist in Prince Esterhazy’s orchestra, the quartet features the first violin in a prominent role. In four movements, this piece follows a conventional quartet structure with a lively first movement followed by a melodic slow movement. This is followed by a minuet and trio and completed by a finale. Each movement showed off Haydn’s mastery of musical structure, and delighted the audience with its grace and elegance.
The Haydn was followed by the radically contrasting quartet no. 2 by Béla Bartók, written between 1915 and 1917. The quartet is heavily influenced, like much of Bartók’s work, by Hungarian and Romanian folk melodies, combined with a 20th century approach to composition. The viola theme of the first movement was played with lyrical expressiveness by Stefan Fehlandt. The second movement, Allegro molto capriccioso, is again influenced by folk melodies, and places considerable technical demands on the musicians, which they met admirably. The subdued and quiet finale, marked Lento, was again played brilliantly by the Vogler quartet.
After a brief interval, the quartet returned to play Beethoven’s quartet no. 3, op. 59 – named the Razumovsky after the Russian ambassador who commissioned the work in 1806, so that he could play second violin in the quartet he hired. Beethoven wrote this work when his hearing was deteriorating, making the genius of this work all the more remarkable. The quartet opens with a slow introduction, followed by an Allegro vivace, which demanded the skill of first violinist Tim Vogler to do justice to Beethoven’s score. The Andante con moto second movement was played with melancholic eloquence, the brilliant cello accompaniment being played by Stephan Forck. The minuet follows, leading straight into the Allegro molto finale. This piece again placed considerable technical demands on the ensemble, which they met with style, making use of fugue and energetic runs.
The audience enjoyed the concert so much that they called back the Vogler Quartet for an encore – a theme and variations based on a theme Mozart wrote when he was just 5 years old. This piece delighted the audience and sent us home satisfied by another excellent concert hosted by the Merlin Music Society in the fine acoustic of the Blake Theatre.
Max Pownall and Simon Brown both attend Monmouth Comprehensive School and are AS level music and music technology students.