Friday 4 March at 7.30pm
By Emily Boneham

Having been the resident quartet at the University of Warwick for over 30 years, the Coull Quartet is already well established, playing concerts across the world including China, USA, India, Australia and of course here in the UK. They have also recently been commissioned a piece called ‘Ping!’ with composer Joe Cutler, to celebrate the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. So as expected their performance at Embrace Arts was a highly anticipated concert, featuring pieces by Haydn, Tippett and Schubert.

Opening with Haydn’s intense Quartet in F minor, the first movement explored the grand variety of emotions that are elicited by the sweeping and contrasting brusque phrases. Both the Minuet and Adagio incorporated slow-lilting movements, while the Finale - Fuga a 2 soggetti was a powerful and passionate conclusion to the first piece.

In contrast, Tippett’s Quartet No. 1 brought a more modern style to the concert, exposing the composer’s preoccupation with the form and structure of movements. The slow Lento flowed with uninterrupted lyrical song, an opportunity for the quartet to move in harmony. A highlight of the piece was the Sonata-form Allegro which enabled a cello solo; played with sensitivity and mellow warmth.

Finally, the Quartet in G Major fully embraced the characteristic twists and turns of melody and harmony in Schubert’s music. The striking rhythms and dynamics of the first movement allowed the individual sounds of the quartet to emerge with dancing melodies and then blend seamlessly again with the unified flow of the other instruments. The second movement being much slower than the first, brought about a much more emotive sound to the quartet before the delicate Scherzo which included a smiling Austrian Landler.

The concert was brought to a rousing conclusion with a vivacious tarantella, introducing a catchy tune reminiscent of Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic operas. Bursting with relentless energy, this sparkling dance appeared to diminuendo out of sight before returning with the final chords of what was a dynamic and thoroughly enjoyable concert.