Behn Quartet: The Musicians’ Company #MiddayMusic

The Behn Quartet joined the Musicians' Company Young Artists' Programme after winning our Maisie Lewis Artists' Fund award in 2017. Here they perform Fanny Mendelssohn's String Quartet in E-flat Major, I. Adagio ma non troppo and Herbert Howells' 'A Spotless Rose' arranged by the Behn Quartet. The Behns write: "This year has been a difficult one for everyone, and for many this Christmas will look very different to normal. We therefore really wanted to present a programme which explores comfort and consolation at this time of year. Fanny Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in E-flat major is a warm and heartfelt work, which is rarely performed. We chose to contrast this with Herbert Howells’s A Spotless Rose, originally written for SATB voices. This is a more introspective piece, and we hope it brings you both calm and joy during the run-up to the festive season." Laura Lunansky, Alicia Berendse (violins), Ana Teresa de Braga e Alves (viola), Ghislaine McMullin (cello The Behn Quartet is a prize-winning ensemble formed of players from England, Portugal, and the Netherlands. They take their name from Aphra Behn, the seventeenth-century playwright, political activist, and philanthropist of the arts. Since their formation in 2015, the Behn Quartet have given recitals across Europe, including at the West Cork Chamber Music Festival, the String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam, and at the Fondazione Cini Venice in association with Le Dimore del Quartetto. They made their Wigmore Hall recital debut in 2018 with thanks to the Maisie Lewis Young Artists' Award, and made their Concertgebouw debut later that year during a tour across the Netherlands. They have recorded for Linn Records and Divine Art Label, and have featured on news outlets worldwide; they gave the world premiere of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ final work live BBC Radio 3, and have also appeared on Medici TV, Dutch National Radio and Radio New Zealand. Most recently they received the Kersjes Fonds Stipendium, presented at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam. Upcoming performances will include masterclasses at Kings Place London as part of ChamberStudio, and recitals at the Holywell Music Room in Oxford, Newbury Spring Festival and Brighton Festival. The Behn Quartet are generously supported by the De Lancey & De La Hanty Foundation, Help Musicians UK, Le Dimore del Quartetto, and Het Kersjes Fonds. -------------------------------------------------- Musicians' Company Profile - http://www.wcom.org.uk/yeoman/behn-quartet/ About our Maisie Lewis and Concordia Foundation Young Artists' Fund - http://www.wcom.org.uk/awards/maisie-lewis-young-artists-fund-and-concordia-foundation-artists-fund -------------------------------------------------- Join our weekly #MiddayMusic e-news at http://eepurl.com/dv0ccr #MiddayMusic is supported by funds from the Musicians' Company’s Prince’s Prize which received a generous endowment in 2015 from The Eranda Rothschild Foundation and Rothschilds Bank, in memory of Leopold de Rothschild, a Liveryman of the Musicians’ Company for over 50 years. Donate to support The Musicians' Company Young Artists - http://www.justgiving.com/musicianscompanyfund