Music / Ben Hoadley and the Ellery String Quartet. At Wesley Uniting Church, Forrest, September 15. Reviewed by LEN POWER.

The Ellery String Quartet’s recital of works old and new included music by Joseph Michl, Ross Edwards, Gillian Whitehead, Carl Maria von Weber. 

With bassoonist Ben Hoadley joining them, there was the added bonus of the Australian premiere of his own string quartet work.

The Ellery quartet was formed in 2021 and has since performed a wide range of repertoire and collaborated with various notable artists. It is a regular performer at the Canberra international Music Festival and its members play with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra.

Hoadley is principal bassoonist with the orchestra and guest principal with other major orchestras in Australia, NZ and Malaysia.

Starting with Michl’s Quartet in F Major, violinists Brad Tham and Anika Chan, Chloe Law on cello with Hoadley gave this charming work a spirited performance. Their playing of the first movement was delightfully cheery while the second movement had an appealing reflective quality as well as being melodic.

The full quartet, including Pippa Newman on viola, then performed Ross Edwards’ Chorale and Ecstatic Dance. The first part started quietly and developed into a haunting, melancholic piece of great beauty. In contrast, the second part was busy and colourful. The quartet gave it a nicely sensitive and clear performance.

Next were two solo bassoon works by NZ composer, Gillian Whitehead – Ngā hā o neherā (a breath from the past) and Ohinemuto. Played by Hoadley from the gallery of the church above and behind the audience, the first had a lovely misty, nostalgic quality and the second, a grandness filled with sounds of nature, people and their stories.

The quartet then played Hoadley’s String Quartet: Mt. Eden. The first part was dramatic and busy, followed by a section that was calmer but still with an underlying tension. At the conclusion, Hoadley thanked them for their fine and sensitive playing of his work.

With his bassoon, Hoadley joined the quartet to play the melodic Andante and Hungarian Rondo by Carl Maria von Weber. This melodic work with its colourful Hungarian melodies was played delightfully and brought this fine and varied concert to a close.