Maria Vila Ariza (violin 1) Annabel Kidd (violin 2) Raphael Chinn (viola) Alasdair Monton-Teng (cello)
Friends joined through their love of chamber music, the Resol String Quartet formed in the Autumn of 2018 at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Taking their name from the Catalan word meaning “reflection of sunlight”, the members of the quartet come from a great variety of backgrounds but were brought together by their shared vision to make classical music more inclusive and accessible. Acting as ambassadors for chamber music, and keeping it alive in today’s society, Resol feel just as at home in education and care settings as they do on the concert platform and strive to blend all this work together. In the concert hall they approach their interpretations from a historically-informed perspective, bringing a unique take on repertoire from all eras. In May 2021, the quartet were awarded both the First Prize and Audience Prize in the CAVATINA Competition at the Wigmore Hall, representing the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. In the same year, they made their Perth Concert Hall debut, were named as one of Chamber Music Scotland’s ‘One’s to Watch’ and were accepted to work with Live Music Now Scotland. They also appeared live on BBC Radio Scotland’s ‘Classics Unwrapped’. In 2022 they made their Conway Hall Debut as part of their historic ‘Sunday Concert Series’.
During March to May 2023 Resol will be on a Female Composers Tour around the UK, and are really happy to be including Dunfermline as one of the stops on their tour. Fanny Hensel (née Mendelssohn) was the elder sister of the better-known composer Felix Mendelssohn. As happened frequently with female composers (there is a clear parallel with Rebecca Clark, whose music appears in the programme) little of her music was published during her lifetime, and the remainder has remained completely hidden from view until recent years. Her string quartet, though not published until 1988, is now performed regularly, and considered to be the first string quartet written by a female composer. It was playing it for the first time a year ago that piqued Resol’s interest into what other female composers may have composed. While Fanny’s work was the catalyst for this programme, it has a rather explosive ending, so is being played as the final piece in the concert. To complement its solidly Romantic style, Resol are starting with three items by American and European composers that highlight the different compositional styles of composers who were working at the same period. In Florence Price’s String Quartet there is a clear inspiration with jazz, while Rebecca Clark and Henriëtte Bosmans had a clear influence from Ralph Vaughan Williams and Frank Bridge. It promises to be a very engaging and exciting programme, with something for everyone!
Henriëtte Bosmans: String Quartet Florence Price: String Quartet in A minor Interval Rebecca Clarke: Poem for String Quartet Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel: String Quartet in E-flat major
