Co-Artistic Directors, Trish and Paul Dean, have created an exceptional year of fine chamber music programs for Ensemble Q. Exciting collaborations within their pool of talented musicians utilise a range of unusual and tempting venues across Brisbane and south-east Queensland, as well as further afield.
As part of their main QPAC series, their year opened with Grand Septet – four works for a mixed ensemble of strings and winds – which will be broadcast on ABC Classic FM in April. Seemingly a winning combination of instrumentation for a chamber group, the septet of violin, viola, cello, double bass, clarinet, bassoon and horn offers a range of almost symphonic sonority and musical colours without losing the tone and texture provided by a solo player.
The concert commences with Dvořák’s Bagatelles Op.47, five short melodic pieces originally written for two violins, cello and harmonium (or piano). In a new and very fine arrangement by Trish Dean for the string and wind septet, Dvořák’s work is given additional and well-crafted musical textures. It seems to sizzle and sparkle in this version with its newly created sonority.
Based on a folksong theme, the mostly bright, tuneful music is bounced around from one instrument to another, from strings to wind and back again, with alacrity. Technically assured, the septet play with great enthusiasm and style, each instrument offering an individual palette of musical colours under an umbrellaed and joyous soundscape. An impressive rendition of this work.
Ernö Dohnányi’s Serenade for String Trio is a melange of styles, bringing together Hungarian folk tradition, classical romanticism and early 20th century modernism. The classical five movements for violin, viola and cello flow from a brisk Allegro towards a melancholic and lyrical Romance, followed by a vigorous Scherzo, some introspective variations and then a rollicking and fast Rondo. A roller-coaster of a ride for the musicians with mood swings and many shifts in dynamics, especially in the variations, it requires great technical skill and expressive sensitivity.
From Adam Chalabi’s controlled violin with its sweeping lyricism through Christopher Moore’s emotive viola solo and the underlying warmth and richness of Trish Dean’s cello, the Serenade is managed with prowess and panache. It showcases an impressive and technically virtuosic interplay between the three instrumentalists that is both exciting and exhilarating to watch and hear.
Ensemble Q’s 2025 Composer in Residence, Melody Eötvös, was commissioned to write a new work for this concert. A world premiere, Baelō was inspired by the Big Drift sand dunes in Victoria and the Baelo Claudia Archaeological Complex and sand dunes in Bolonia, Spain. A prolific composer, Eötvös’ music is greatly influenced by innermost thoughts, ideas and feelings. She is also inspired by visual stimuli, particularly of the natural world, to which the amazing and beautiful images on her website attest.
As written for the Septet, the five separate short movements of Baelō are played without any noticeable breaks and very much merged into each other as the work progresses. This is powerful, atmospheric and evocative music – the drifting of the sand being heard in the first dark notes of the double bass and through the remaining strings as they begin to play. Joining the strings, the long, slow notes of the woodwind depict a sad and melancholic mood, perhaps to illustrate the ever-present sea. We hear Spanish rhythms as the clarinet rides above the bassoon and horn, with its melodic trills and wistfulness, with hints of Arabic rhythms also discernible.
All in all, this is a marvellous ethereal work where the individual instruments have their own colourful voices, while working together harmoniously. An impressive new work, beautifully realised.
The final work is the rarely performed Grand Septet in B flat major by Swedish composer, Franz Berwald. Berwald’s skilful orchestration is very well constructed to show off the individual qualities of all seven instruments, while at the same time offering a cleverly balanced and rounded delivery by the whole septet.
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The sprightly Adagio leads to an emotive Andante, then a foot-tapping rhythm in a fun Scherzo and a fierce and frenetic Finale. Ensemble Q play this extremely well, obviously relishing their exciting individual roles, with many excellent solos by all the players. They work impressively and seamlessly together to deliver an excellent performance of this glorious work, and a performance that is one to remember.
Ensemble Q musicians: Adam Chalab, Christopher Moore, Trish Dean, Phoebe Russell, Paul Dean, David Mitchell, Nicholas Mooney
Grand Septet by Ensemble Q was performed for one night only one 17 March as part of QPAC 2025 Series, but the concert was recorded by ABC Classic FM and will be broadcast on Evenings at 7pm on 4 April 2025 (Evenings with Joel Carnegie – ABC listen)
