Wilma Smith put together this group comprising two established musicians – Wilma herself and viola player Caroline Henbest, and two up-and-coming Kiwi musicians, cellist Alexandra Partridge and pianist Andrew Leathwick.
Wilma Smith and Friends Photo: WCMT
Both Alexandra and Andrew have recently trained at the Australian National Academy of Music in Melbourne – a professional performance training institute offering post-grad study to exceptional young Australian and New Zealand classical musicians. And that’s where one of the connections for this group was forged. Caroline Henbest, as well as playing principal viola in the Australian Chamber Orchestra also teaches at the National Academy. And one of the regular opportunities the Academy gives to its young musicians is to perform on stage alongside their mentors and visiting guest artists.
Wilma Smith & Friends - Wilma Smith (violin), Caroline Henbest (viola), Alexandra Partridge (cello), Andrew Leathwick (piano)
William Walton began work on his Piano Quartet in 1918 when he was just 16 and completed it the following year. The decision to write it was pragmatic, to enter the Carnegie Trust’s competitions. Walton was successful, and the work was published in 1924 under the Trust’s auspices and performed that year in Liverpool. By that time Walton was a well-known and respected composer. In 1973 he revised the quartet.
It shows the influence of some of Walton’s contemporaries – Herbert Howells and Ravel in the first movement, and in the final movement, diverse musical influences with references to Stravinsky, Ravel, and jazz. And a complex fugue later in the movement gives a nod to the modal folk idiom of Vaughan Williams.
Recorded 15 October 2017, St Andrew's on the Terrace, Wellington by RNZ Concert
Producer: David McCaw
Engineer: Graham Kennedy
