New Zealand String Quartet

From the remote isles of New Zealand to humble Hueckelhoven, the New Zealand String Quartet made a guest appearance in the Hueckelhoven Hall, offering in-depth insights into new and old music.
With music, it is as with all the arts. Sometimes it is like a book with seven seals – with access seemingly barred to mere lay people – unless they are prepared to come along with a suitable degree of openness. And it is also about the artists actually wanting to be understood. It was precisely this ideal constellation that came together in the Hueckelhoven Hall yet again. For it was there that the particularly open and attentive audience, as the “con brio” Friends of Chamber Music are known to be, and the Adult Education Centre experienced the New Zealand String Quartet. And the four musicians from New Zealand drew the audience right into the heart of their art.

Extraordinary expression
It was the fourth time this ensemble of world class had made a guest appearance in Hueckelhoven. Right from the Capriccio in E-Minor by Mendelssohn, the musicians – Helene Pohl (1st violin), Douglas Beilman (2nd violin), Gillian Ansell (viola) and Rolf Gjelsten (cello) – revealed their extraordinary power of expression, which was particularly apparent in their dynamism and accentuation. They set Shostakovich’s ambiguous string quartet No 11 against Schubert’s epic string quartet in G-Major, D887, not without putting the works in context for the audience beforehand. They did so by playing a sample of one or two passages by way of illustration, so even a lay person could follow with ease.

As always, the quartet also included a work by a contemporary New Zealand composer in the programme – “Kartsigar” by John Psathas, who traces his Greek roots in the piece and turns what was for him an unforgettable melody into a work in two movements, based on a short and recurring motif.

While in the first movement it is the pizzicato accompaniment that is handed around the four string players, in the second it is a childlike, naïve and slightly strange theme that gets passed around, with the three other parts playing long, dissonant notes. Gradually they become louder, more rhythmical and harmonious, before coming to a head in a catchy melody. It was fascinating to observe how the four musicians did this – maintaining eye contact as they handed the melody on to each other. When the melody softly faded and the initially rather strange-sounding motif next emerged, it suddenly seemed more familiar. It was like being given a brief look at a secret – the secret of music, which, thanks to the New Zealand String Quartet, was once again revealed to us in Hueckelhoven.