An evening with the fantastic four

The concert, held at a city hotel, left all the music-lovers asking for more.

The Endellion String Quartet comprises Andrew Watkinson on violin, Ralph
De Souza on violin, Garfield Jackson on viola and David Waterman on cello.
Popularly known as The Endellions, the four are residents of Cambridge University and are famous for their rendition of the Beethoven Quartet.

With the quartet and the IMAS celebrating their 30th and 35th anniversaries respectively, the evening was surely a special one.

As the concert started, the group expressed its sheer delight to be performing in the City.

“It’s been 14 years since we last played here,” said one of the musicians.
“It’s our first concert of the seven-city tour.”

The four talented musicians started with Beethoven : String Quartet H 34 (arr Piano sonata Op 14 No 1).

“It works beautifully and we are going to show you how it’s done,” they said as they started. Consisting of Allegro moderato, Allegretto and Allegro, the entire piece consisted of delightful tunes, which made all the guests extremely happy.

The second piece that the four musicians played was Smetana : String Quartet No 1 (From my life) consisting of Allegro viva appasionato, Allegro modderato ala Polka, Largo sostenuto and Vivace.

It had an array of movements showcasing a range of emotions. After a short interval, the four musicians presented the Beethoven String Quartet in F Major Op 59 No 1 (Razumovsky).

The music-lovers were delighted with the performance and requested the artistes for an encore, to which the foursome gladly obliged. They played a unique version of Happy Birthday to celebrate the anniversaries of their group and the IMAS.

This celebratory encore was appreciated by everyone present.

Rebecca Vieyra, a young music-lover and a student of St Joseph’s College of Commerce, simply loved the concert.

“I am not so much into Western classical music. But I fell in love with the Endellion String Quartet when I heard them. It was so different from the normal music one listens to,” she said.

With exams around the corner, Rebecca took a break from studies by attending the concert.

“I have no words to describe their music. It was so soothing,” she noted.
“The way they ended the show was such a surprise. They played the Happy Birthday tune and the way they synchronised and harmonised was simply amazing.”