The Penny Quartet

Sunday 16th June 2019, 2.00pm

THE PENNY QUARTET’S RICH OFFERING.

The third and very well  well attended  concert in the Yass Music Club’s 2019 season was from The Penny Quartet – through Musica Viva –  a youthful group of musicians of great talent and enthusiasm.

The Club was saddened to have  news of the death of Brian Johnson, a long-time member of the Music Club and its President from 2011 to 2015, and our collective condolences are with his wife, Nancy and their family.

The concert began with Sergei Prokofiev’s String Quartet in B minor op 50 no 1  in three movements – Allegro, Andante and molto Andante – and we were able to appreciate the considerable interpretative talents of the group in this challenging piece though possibly its modernism was a little less than  attractive to some of the audience.

Joseph O’Connor’s “Vignettes” was obviously very special to the Pennys, as O’Connor had written a tribute movement in it for each member of the quartet. Wishing Dream featured the cello of Jack Ward, Choir Loft Maverick was special for the violin of Amy Brookman, Idle Talk was for violinist, Madelaine Jevons and Filigree was most apt for the viola of Anthony Chataway. Each player revelled in the musical opportunities that their individual compositions gave to them.

At interval, a very tasty afternoon tea was provided by Thyme to Taste and the CD raffle was won by Peter Applegate.

The second half of the concert began with Franz-Joseph Haydn’s wonderful String Quartet in C major, ‘The Emperor’  and the skills of the group admirably captured its beauties with its exuberant first movement in sonata form with the Pennys well able to communicate its sense of dignified good humour. The second movement, “Poco adagio, cantabile” – Rather Slow, Songlike –  uses the elegant “Emperor’s Hymn” as a basis for its complex variations. The third movement, Menuetto allegro, is written in a dance form and it closes with a sometimes strident, sometimes lilting, but invariably dramatic, Finale: presto, theme again written in sonata form.

The Quartet gave a stirring rendition of this wonderful quartet from  Haydn, the creator of the string quartet form itself, and their encore of J.S. Bach’s ‘Contrapunctus No 2’ was a delightful exercise in the counterpoint mode which is so much a feature of Bach’s creativity.

All in all, The Penny Quartet provided the Yass Music Club with a truly delightful and highly skilled entertainment.

Our next concert will be performed by popular demand from The Grigoryan brothers, Slava and Leonard, on Sunday, 11th August at 2.00pm and on Saturday, 12th October at 7.45pm, and  also from Musica Viva, the highly anticipated return of “The Idea of North”.

Looking ahead to 2020, we have arranged a  program with a popular and varied selection of performers, beginning on Saturday, 22nd February  with Clemens Leske, Pianist; on Saturday,28th March, The Canberra Bach Ensemble; Sunday,21st June, the Sarah Maclaine Jazz Trio; Sunday,16th August, Ay Pachanga (Salsa) and on Saturday, 24th October, the very welcome return of The Acacia Quartet, both latter through Musica Viva.                                                                         Brian Millett.

The Penny Quartet Comprising of:
Amy Brookman (Violin), Madeleine Jevons (Violin),
Anthony Chataway (Viola), Jack Ward (Cello).
An exciting new addition to Australian chamber music
making, the Penny Quartet are rapidly gaining a
reputation as a fresh interpretative voice with drive
and passion.
Founded in early 2014, the group brings a vibrant
approach to their performances across the country.
With diverse individual backgrounds and
experiences across the globe, the group brings
together years of knowledge and training to create
a mature quartet sound.
The Penny Quartet’s repertoire is wide and varied;
a love for the core quartet repertoire is intertwined
with an urge to explore less charted
territory.