The Dudok Quartet of Amsterdam are one of the most exciting young string quartets on the scene at the moment.  They have previously played in Inverness, but this was their first visit to Nairn, and it was a memorable appearance.  Dedicated to the sounds appropriate for their chosen music, for the first of Mozart's Prussian Quartets they employed classical-style bows with their reduced playing surface and tension.  The difference in the sound, even on modern instruments with wire strings is striking, and combined with the minimal use of vibrato transformed our experience of Mozart's music.  It is surprising to note that the string quartet as a form didn't come naturally to Mozart – he initially struggled to compose in this genre, partly as a result of comparing his efforts with those of his admired model Haydn, whose quartets were apparently effortlessly perfect.  By the time we come to what turned out to be his last three quartets, there is an understated confidence, which suggests that he had finally fully emerged from the shadow of his musical hero.  The prominent cello part, which often stands out from the quartet texture and frequently takes the musical initiative, was composed with a very special cellist in mind – Friedrich Wilhelm II, King of Prussia.  A gifted cellist, the King had commissioned these quartets, and Mozart returns the favour with a particularly rewarding cello part.  The delightful clarity and integrity of the Dudok's playing gave us an utterly convincing performance of this charming music.

A change of bows and a change of soundworld introduced the Fourth String Quartet by contemporary Dutch composer Joey Roukens entitled 'What Remains', a remarkable work composed in 2020 for and in collaboration with the Dudok Quartet.  The first of two movements, 'Strange Oscillations', opened with sweeping veils of harmonics, before exploring a fascinating sequence of sustained and yet subtly shifting harmonies and rhythms.  This music could not have been more of a contrast with the self-contained Mozart quartet which preceded it!  The title of the second movement, 'Motectum', seems to allude to the medieval version of 'Motet', a free-standing piece of religious choral polyphony, and indeed this movement opens with a muted hymn-like texture, recalling early choral music heard at a distance.  As it evolves, the music gathers its energy into towering pillars of sound reminiscent of the great choral works of the Renaissance.  At this point it is interesting to recall the fact that the group is named after the modernist Dutch architect Willem Dudok, reflecting the musicians' awareness of the close relationship between music and architecture.  Dudok acknowledged that his architecture 'owed more to composers than to any architectural artists' and this piece by Roukens and the Quartet's performance of it seems to return the favour with an exploration of the architecture of this intriguing music. 

The concert concluded with Shostakovich's Third String Quartet, a piece which tests the technical mastery and musicality of any quartet.  In a masterly performance, both individually and in ensemble, the players rose magnificently to the considerable challenges of this work.  Composed immediately after the war, in contrast to his epic pre-war and wartime symphonies, Shostakovich's op 73 is in the ironic neo-cartoonish style of some of his earliest works, and originally even sported movement titles.  However, as the Dudok's cellist David Faber perceptively commented, these are couched in unfortunately childish terms and were soon dropped.  The titles remind me of the Renaissance vogue for 'battle' pieces, featuring movements depicting the mustering of the forces, various marches and the battle itself followed by the burying of the dead – the parallels with Shostakovich's movements are uncanny, except that he precedes his sequence with a movement depicting 'Blythe ignorance of the future cataclysm' and adds a postlude entitled 'The eternal question – why? and for what?'.  This final movement ends enigmatically, recalling Charles Ives' haunting piece 'The Unanswered Question', which appeared in its final form in 1935 and which Shostakovich may well have known.  Violinist Judith van Dreel's breathtaking account of this conclusion was simply spellbinding.  A large Music Nairn audience clearly enjoyed this thought-provoking and thoughtfully compiled and executed programme.