BIOGRAPHY FABIEN THOUAND studied at the CNSM de Paris, winning first prize unanimously in 2000. Since CONWAY then he has pursued a career in France and abroad, specializing in the fields of orchestral and chamber repertoire. He has played under the baton of renowned conductors such as Muti, Maazel, Metha, HALL Temirkanov, Masur, Dutoit, Abbado, Gergiev and Barenboim. Since 2004 he has been principal oboe SUNDAY at La Scala in Milan. He is also active as a teacher, and recently became an oboe teacher at the Royal College of Music in London. CONCERTS In 1996 LAURENT QUENELLE became a permanent member of the London Symphony Orchestra and is regularly invited as a concertmaster with Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique (Gardiner), the London Sinfonietta and the Scottish Ensemble. Passionate about chamber music, he has performed Patrons with the oboist François Leleux, the violinist Gordan Nikolic, and the double bassist Edgar Meyer, and - Stephen Hough, Laura Ponsonby AGSM, Prunella Scales has recorded chamber music by Stravinsky with Vladimir Ashkenazy. He has also played with the Nash CBE, Roderick Swanston, Hiro Takenouchi and Timothy West CBE Ensemble, Oxalys, and was a member of the Mullova Ensemble formed by violinist Viktoria Mullova. Artistic Director - Simon Callaghan MALCOLM JOHNSTON began learning the violin and piano at an early age, but was soon drawn to the warm, sumptuo sound and unfamiliar repertoire of the viola, and fell in love with it. After four years with the Amernet String Quartet, during which time the quartet toured extensively and won several major awards, including the gold medal at the 1992 Tokyo International Chamber Music Competition, Sunday February 21st 2016, 6:30pm Malcolm joined the London Symphony Orchestra. EVE-MARIE CARAVASSILIS studied at the Paris Conservatoire and the Universität der Künste Berlin, obtaining the highest distinctions during the final examinations. She has also received lessons from great pedagogues such as YoYo Ma, David Geringas, Bernard Greenhouse, Walter Levine, Reiner Schmidt, Gary Hoffman and the Artemis Quartet. As the former cellist of the Psophos Quartet, chosen to be one of the “New Generation Artists” of the prestigious BBC programme, she played regularly at venues such as the Wigmore Hall, the Concertgebouw and Paris’s Cité de la Musique and Théâtre du Châtelet. Alongside her affection for chamber music, she has always had a great interest for orchestral repertoire and in 2013 she became a member of the London Symphony Orchestra. NEXT AT CONWAY HALL Sunday February 28th 2016, 6.30pm NOUS QUARTET Puccini Crisantemi Beethoven Quartet in B flat Op. 18/6 VIOLIN LAURENT QUENELLE Bartók Quartet No. 5 in B flat Sz102 VIOLA MALCOLM JOHNSTON CELLO EVE-MARIE CARAVASSILIS Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter to stay updated about concerts and news. Conway Hall Sunday Concerts are an integral part of the charitable activities of Conway Hall. Please turn off all mobile phones and electronic devices. Conway Hall’s registered charity name is Conway Hall Ethical Society (n o . 1156033). No recording and photographing allowed at any time. PROGRAMME PROGRAMME NOTES MOZART OBOE QUARTET IN F K370 (1781) It was 1777 when Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart encountered the impressive playing of oboist Friedrich Ramm Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-91) of the Mannheim Court Orchestra, and he acknowledged Ramm with a gift: his own Oboe Concerto. Three OBOE QUARTET IN F K370 (1781) years later, Mozart renewed his close working relationship with Ramm when Mozart was commissioned by Elector Carl Theodor to write a new opera, Idomeneo. In the early months of 1781, Mozart wrote the Oboe I. Allegro Quartet in F major for Ramm, exploring the wide expressive capacity of the double-reed instrument, and II. Adagio tailored the quartet to Ramm’s virtuosic skills and the refinements made to the oboe’s construction. The “high F” (rarely seen in any piece around that time) heard in the first and final movement, the plaintive oboe III. Rondeau: Allegro line of the Adagio and the nimble concerto-like figurations of the Rondo are just some of the ways in which the piece showcases the instrument’s dexterity. Benjamin Britten (1913-76) BRITTEN PHANTASY IN F MINOR OP. 2 (1932) PHANTASY IN F MINOR OP. 2 (1932) While a student at the Royal College of Music, Benjamin Britten wrote his Phantasy Quartet for oboe and strings dedicated to Leon Goossens, renowned British oboist at the time who performed the piece for a radio broadcast in 1933. Britten’s affection for the bright double-reed instrument is clearly expressed in its soloistic writing, starting with a nostalgic oboe melody over a march-like string backdrop, followed by a INTERVAL quicker section full of dashing rhythmic passages from both instrumental forces. A melancholic episode marks (15 mins) the middle of the work’s arch-like narrative, with string textures and sonorities often reminiscent of Vaughan Williams’ pastoral musical language. The opening lyrical theme and march-like rhythm are recapitulated until the cello makes the final statement and fades into the distance. Josef Fiala (1748-1816) FIALA OBOE QUARTET IN F (PUB. 1966) OBOE QUARTET IN F (PUB. 1966) I. Allegro spiritoso Czech composer Josef Fiala enjoyed a fine performing career as oboe virtuoso, cellist and viola da gamba player. His wind compositions made a particularly good impression on Mozart, which lead to a strong II. Menuett: Moderato working relationship with the Salzburg-born composer. Fiala’s second Oboe Quartet in F major embodies his compositional flair Mozart was so fond of. This piece conveys a pleasant and playful character very much III. Andante akin to the Classical style and form, consisting of a breezy oboe melody flowing throughout, supported by a IV. Allegro simple and stately string trio accompaniment. MOERAN FANTASY QUARTET (1946) Ernest Moeran (1894-1950) Belonging to the British pastoral tradition of composers alongside Vaughan Williams, Ireland and Delius, Ernest FANTASY QUARTET (1946) John Moeran showed a keen interest in folk music and the particular landscapes and natural environment of Norfolk. Moeran’s music has an eloquent lyricism, a quality expressed to great magnitude in his Fantasy Quartet. While the bright and elegiac oboe melody penetrates the ensemble with its visionary folk colours, the opulent string sonorities (and at times the oboe) exude some modernist qualities including wavering Jean Françaix (1912-97) tonality, Stravinsky-like rhythmic patterns and melodic inflections, expansive harmonies, colourful playing techniques and accented string chords. QUARTET FOR COR ANGLAIS AND STRING TRIO (1970) I. Allegro vivace FRANÇAIX QUARTET FOR COR ANGLAIS AND STRING TRIO (1970) II. Andante tranquillo Jean Françaix was a prolific French composer of the 20th century. His music conveys a taste akin to the III. Vivo assai composers of Les Six, neoclassicism, and at times the Impressionism of Ravel and Debussy. All of these musical IV. Andantino ideas can be heard in his Quartet, scored for an unusual combination of Cor Anglais (a lower cousin of the oboe) and string trio. This piece consists of five movements, alternating between two contrasting characters. V. Allegro giocoso The first, third and fifth movements engage in ragtime-like conversations between each instrument, strongly reflecting Françaix’s musical personality: one of lightness and wit. On the other hand, the second and fourth movements convey much deeper and expressive warmth, in which the mellow timbre of the Cor Anglais is Tonight’s performance will finish at approximately 8:15pm. used to great effect. .