From the Artistic Director

It is curious that more composers have not taken their cue from Boccherini and written for the combination of guitar and string quartet. There is something simultaneously courteous and adversarial about the line-up – a reflection of the physical overlaps between instruments and the potential for the strings, in the wrong hands (composer and player), to talk boorishly over the guitar.

There is a beautiful story about the genesis of the work being premiered in these concerts: me wanting to tip my cap to Carl Vine, my distinguished predecessor as Artistic Director of Musica Viva Australia; Karin Schaupp’s desire to get a significant new work from Carl; Carl’s interest in writing for the guitar and strings; and the fervent hope of a mother that she could commemorate her much-loved and -missed daughter in a musical work that would live on. That’s a lot to put on one piece, yet with Endless Carl has written something intimate and lyrical, heartfelt and profound, a work that lives up to the hopes we all had when embarking on this project.

A huge part of its success depends on the quartet, of course, and for the 20 years or so since Karin recorded the Boccherini Guitar Quintet with the Flinders Quartet, this remarkable Melbourne-based ensemble has workshopped and performed countless new works from composers of hugely contrasting aesthetics. Their passion for ensuring the survival of the quartet genre through constantly replenishing the repertory – through both commissions and archaeological digs (c.f. Imogen Holst’s Phantasy Quartet) – is matched by their chops. It’s a joy to get the band back together and to celebrate Australian artists and artistry in such style.

Paul Kildea Artistic Director Musica Viva Australia

Ferdinando CARULLI (1770–1841)

Guitar Concerto in A Major, Op. 8 (c. 1809) 12 min

Richard CHARLTON (b. 1955)*

Southern Cross Dreaming (2007) 4 min

Mario CASTELNUOVO-TEDESCO (1895–1968)

Quintet, Op. 143 (for Guitar and String Quintet) (1950) 24 min

I Allegro, vivo e schietto (Fast, lively and frank)

II Andante mesto (Moving along at a walking pace, sad)

III Scherzo: Allegro con spirito, alla Marcia (Fast and spirited, like a march)

IV Finale: Allegro con fuoco (Fast and fiery)

Interval

Carl VINE (b. 1954)

Endless for Guitar and String Quartet (2021)

Commissioned for Musica Viva Australia in loving memory of Jennifer Bates. World premiere performances.

Imogen HOLST (1907–1984)

15 min

Phantasy Quartet (1928) 11 min

Luigi BOCCHERINI (1743–1805)

Guitar Quintet in D Major, G. 448 (1798) 7 min

III Grave assai (Very slow and solemn)

IV Fandango

* In Adelaide, Richard Charlton’s Southern Cross Dreaming will be replaced with the following work:

John CAGE (1912–1992)

Dream (1948) 8 min

Please ensure that mobile phones are turned to silent before the performance. Flash photography is not permitted during the performance.