A song sequence for String Quartet and Voice. Written by Elvis Costello in response to an article detailing the discovery that a Veronese academic had been replying to letters addressed to 'Juliet Capulet'. The delicate andpersonal nature of the content of such correspondence has inspired a wonderful and poignant set of songs arranged specifically for and performed by The Brodsky Quartet. This is a deceptively simple and work baring all thequalities of Costello's intelligent sense of melody.

Commissioned by the Presteigne Festival of Music and the Arts Limited with funds provided by the Arts Council of Wales for premiere in August 2012 by the Carducci String Quartet in St. Andrew?s Church Presteigne.Composer's Note.'Some years ago I noted down the opening theme of what I anticipated would be a relatively Classical string quartet ?Classical? in the sense of the forms adopted plus perhaps a predominantly lyrical tone of voice. The commission for this work from the Presteigne Festival for their 30th anniversary in 2012 gave me the opportunity of putting into practice this long-held idea. It isdedicated to the Festival and to the Carducci Quartet whose career as much-admired friends and colleagues I have greatly enjoyed.The only break with ?classical? tradition is that there are five movements instead of four with two Scherzi as the second and third though both these are very short and contrasting. I found myself listening to Haydn?s string quartets a lot before and during the composition of this work and I hope the spirit of his delight in writing for this medium is echoed in my own music. The opening movement is in sonata form unusually for me and lyricism is I hope the basis of it though there is a good deal of activity at times. The Scherzo light and marked by frequently-changing rhythms is followed by an equally short but ferocious Perpetuum mobile marked Wild und rasch (one of my favourite German tempo markings). The fourth movement is an intense Adagio in which a single phrase uttered strongly in unison is gradually transformed into gentle diatonic chords before the close intermingled with cadenzas for cello for viola and for the two violins together. The finale (a Rondo) resumes the classical tone of the first movement but apart from one dance-like episode it builds up a fair head of steam towards a final Presto which however ascends slows and quietens towards a gentle summer sky at dusk.'

Par VASKS PETERIS. The Latvian composer Peteris Vasks, who is known for his atmospheric pieces for string orchestra, “Cantabile”, “Musica dolorosa” and “Voices”, is concentrating increasingly on chamber music: his latest works are the “Partita” for cello and piano, the “Fifth String Quartet” and a piano quartet. Vasks has brought elements of ancient and folk traditions in Latvian music into his compositions. While most of his works have programmatic titles relating to natural processes, Vasks is not concerned with a poetic homage to Nature, nor with depiction of landscape as an aesthetic ideal. The main themes which Vasks explores in his most recent musical work are the reciprocal relationship between man and Nature, the beauty of life and the impending ecological and moral destruction of these values./ Répertoire / Quatuor à Cordes

Ian Venables' The Song Of The Severn is a cycle of songs in celebration of Worcestershire scored for Baritone Voice String Quartet and Piano. “The Song of the Severn…clothes poems by Masefield Housman John Drinkwater and Philip Worner in sharply memorable music of bewitching lyricism idiomatic grace and rapt instinct…No lover of the early-20th-century English art song or pastoral tradition should fail to investigate this notable issue.” - Andrew Achenbach Gramophone “These five songs for voice with piano and string quartet accompaniment take the Severn Riverand its historical and natural associations as a common theme. They are absolutely stunning in their poignant beauty their profoundly noble and moving sense of tragedy and desolation that never turns sentimental or lachrymose and their perfect union of text and music to a level that rivals Schubert and Mahler.” - James A. Altena Fanfare Magazine