Young Piano Quartet, Lake District Summer Music, Ambleside Parish Church

The Young Piano Quartet gave a fine recital in Ambleside Parish Church. The ensemble presented three works: Mozart’s Piano Quartet in E flat major, Sir Arthur Bliss’s early A minor Quartet and Brahms’s third Piano Quintet in C minor.

This was a meaty programme but the three works on offer were all very different in character. Mozart’s second piano quartet is essentially sunny in its mood and, of course, wonderfully constructed. Bliss’s quartet, written 1914-15 when the composer was a student at the Royal College of Music, is in many ways uncharacteristic of his later works with its echoes of romanticism and English folk melody. Its survival is remarkable considering that Bliss jettisoned many of his early works as being unrepresentative of his real compositional style as a fully fledged composer. Brahms’s third piano quartet was begun when the composer was a young man and going through a period of turmoil in his life; this comes through, especially in the first and third movements dating from this time. Only many years later was the work finally completed and published.

The standard of performance throughout the evening was extremely high, as one would expect from such highly experienced professionals. However, there were times when (at least sitting halfway down the church) the piano seemed to dominate and a better balance might have been achieved if the piano lid had been placed on half stick. This said, it was a pleasure to hear live performances of these three fine works, all in one concert.

Clive Walkley