New Zealand String Quartet

World-class musicians play in Hückelhoven: the New Zealand String Quartet performed in the Hückelhoven Auditorium at the beginning of its European and American tour, and enthralled an audience of around 250 people of all ages.

Hückelhoven. There was a buzzing sound from somewhere that nevertheless seemed as if it was coming from nowhere. It might have been from a bothersome fly or mosquito, or from a loudspeaker that had been turned up much too loud, making the flow of electric current audible – or some other such strange thing. The buzzing was of a frequency and volume that every ear in the audience would have heard at some time, but after a while it could no longer be ignored. It came from Douglas Beilman, who was coaxing the sound from his violin. At that moment, the atmosphere in the hall was as quiet as a mouse, and none of the 250 listeners dared move.

Who knows this music?

On stage there was a world-class string quartet: Helene Pohl and Douglas Beilman (violins), Gillian Ansell (viola) and Rolf Gjelsten (violoncello) had come from New Zealand to give the second concert of their European and North American tour in Hückelhoven. And now they were standing there and making sounds that didn’t sound like high-class music at all, music whose intonation wavered again and again. But very gradually, the distorted sounds became more intense and briefly even produced a kind of rhythm. Against this backdrop, each instrument had asserted its independence in playing a solo by the time the composition Abhisheka, by the contemporary New Zealand composer John Psathas, came to a fairly abrupt end – whereupon the receptive audience burst into their first enthusiastic applause.

This first-class ensemble was hosted by the local chamber music society “con brio” and the local college of further education. It had already appeared in Hückelhoven twice before, and had personally asked “con brio” chairwoman Eva-Maria Seidel if it could give another performance there.

A completely balanced performance

The audience experienced a performance of Haydn’s Sunrise Quartet that was full of warmth and balance, with a restrained first violin and an Adagio in which every tone was allowed to unfold, and in which the meaning of every note was fully emphasised. They heard three temperamental, tongue-in-cheek pieces by Erwin Schulhoff, and experienced the most intimate feelings with which Beethoven had suffused his String Quartet in A Minor, op. 132. If it had been up to the audience, the New Zealand String Quartet would have played ten encores, instead of just two.

Justifiably proud

To be sure, the members of Hückelhoven’s “con brio” chamber music society had every reason to be proud – and to be proud of their audience, too. The renowned New Zealand String Quartet, a chamber music showcase for its homeland New Zealand, returned to Hückelhoven for the third time, because the four musicians feel so at ease there. They returned their welcome with their wonderful music, and were once again received with considerable warmth, appreciation and enthusiasm. The New Zealanders, too, must have been delighted that there were so many young people in the audience – a real rarity. “con brio” deserves further lavish praise for its successful efforts in promoting interest in this kind of music in the secondary schools in the area.