Category: Blog

How to encapsulate Beethoven in 500 words? We can draw some inspiration from his fifteenth string quartet in A Minor. Although this is a work of symphonic breadth, it is succinct enough to give lie to the excessive focus on Beethoven’s gloom and melancholy at the expense of his music’s wider narrative of good prevailing over evil. Certainly the opening movement of the fifteenth quartet is one of Beethoven’s darkest opening movements, pervaded throughout by a deep – if expertly suppressed – sense of tragedy. Beyond this though the story is very different; the second movement comprises a gentle minuet and what must be one of the most wonderfully lyrical trios Beethoven ever committed to manuscript. The background to the epic third movement is the composer’s recovery from serious illness, the music rendering in exquisite detail this juxtaposition of suffering and convalescence; while it is certainly tainted by past loss it speaks primarily of hope. The fourth movement comprises a short, boisterous march and a connecting passage to a final movement which, although beginning with the same tragic tonality as the first, throbs with impatient purpose and a sense that resolution lies within reach; and, in what seems like no time at all, resolution arrives with a triumphant apotheosis in the major key. Far from being a tale of doom therefore the quartet – like the composer – is a multi-dimensional microcosm of the human condition.

It is no doubt widely known that, compared to that available to violinists, the repertoire of the solo viola player (how telling that there is no single-word noun for this species of musician) is somewhat attenuated. Violin-playing cynics might postulate that this is because their viola-playing counterparts cannot be trusted with the great works, and I have no wish to question their wisdom. A fairer explanation is probably that the range of the viola is better suited to ensemble music and is not flattered by the show-stopping demands of the violin concerto corpus. We do however have some gems, and one of these is Telemann’s Viola Concerto in G Major. Whether Telemann was moved to compose this work of glorious pastoral innocence by pity for the neglected viola player we cannot be sure. Hard-hearted though is the viola player who feels patronised by such a generous gift to his repertoire, for Telemann’s work comprises four movements of such simple pleasure that it is impossible to feel for it anything but the deepest goodwill.

Hello, my name is Matthew Smith and I am currently Tyne Consort’s resident viola player (and occasional violinist). From time to time I will use this space to write a few words (500, to be precise – you can count them if you like) on what we are doing at the moment, and my thoughts on some of the music that we play. The 500 words will be entirely my own view; I profess no expertise, and it might be that my fellow members of the ensemble use this space to cordially disagree with me and put forward their own opinions. Such variety of opinion would, I hope, be reflective of an ensemble whose members each bring different qualities to it, to the benefit of the whole. However my main hope is that you enjoy reading these occasional posts as much as I enjoy writing them. If having done so you feel like exploring the rest of the site, then so much the better.

On the 18th of February 2010 Tyne Consort will be part of a concert of Baroque repertoire at St. Paul’s Church, Jarrow.

Tyne Consort will be joined by South Tyneside Senior String Orchestra to perform two of twelve recently published concertos by Michael Christian Festing. The concert will begin at 7.15pm.

Tickets £5. Can be bought on the night, or reserved by emailing your name and ticket requirements to info@tyneconsort.co.uk.