The Vanbrugh, often styled The Vanbrugh and Friends and previously the RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet, is an Irish classical musical group. The resident string quartet to

Raidió Teilifís Éireann Raidi (; ; also written Ragdi; born August, 1938) is a Tibetan politician of the People's Republic of China. He served as a vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 2003 to 2008, and the highest ranking Tibeta ...

, Ireland's national broadcasting service, until 2013, and collectively artists-in-residence to

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...

, the Quartet members were also founders of the

West Cork Chamber Music Festival The West Cork Chamber Music Festival is a music festival, established in 1995, in the town of Bantry in West Cork, Ireland. It usually occurs in July. Performers The festival's performers have included the RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet, Barry Douglas, ...

Organisation and history

The group comprises Keith Pascoe on violins, Simon Aspell on viola and Christopher Marwood with cello, and they add 1-2 members for each performance. The quartet was co-founded with Gregory Ellis and was is part of

RTÉ Performing Groups RTÉ Performing Groups was a group, operating over many years, of five classical ensembles, part of the Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). All but the string quartet (originally the Vanbrugh Quartet, the ConTempo Quartet from ...

. The Vanbrugh Quartet also broadcasts frequently for

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

and performs regularly at London's

Wigmore Hall Wigmore Hall is a concert hall located at 36 Wigmore Street, London. Originally called Bechstein Hall, it specialises in performances of chamber music, early music, vocal music and song recitals. It is widely regarded as one of the world's leadin ...

and

South Bank The South Bank is an entertainment and commercial district in central London, next to the River Thames opposite the City of Westminster. It forms a narrow strip of riverside land within the London Borough of Lambeth (where it adjoins Alber ...

. Past appearances include concerts in Berlin (Konzerthaus), Amsterdam (

Concertgebouw The Royal Concertgebouw ( nl, Koninklijk Concertgebouw, ) is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" translates into English as "concert building". Its superb acoustics place it among the finest concert halls i ...

), Hungary (Liszt Academy), Poland (Lancut Festival), Spain (Galicia Festival), Flanders Festival, Menuhin Festival, Gstaad plus numerous visits to Scandinavia where recordings were made of the complete Beethoven quartets. The quartet tours the USA on a regular basis with performances in

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

, New York and the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

in Washington.

Recordings

Hyperion released two Vanbrugh Quartet CDs of chamber music by

Charles Villiers Stanford Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (30 September 1852 – 29 March 1924) was an Anglo-Irish composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Romantic music, Romantic era. Born to a well-off and highly musical family in Dublin, Stanford was ed ...

. The Quartet's recent recording of three of

Boccherini Ridolfo Luigi Boccherini (, also , ; 19 February 1743 – 28 May 1805) was an Italian composer and cellist of the Classical era whose music retained a courtly and ''galante'' style even while he matured somewhat apart from the major European ...

’s cello quintets on Hyperion was featured as Editor's Choice in Gramophone Magazine. Other recent CDs include Metronome's second CD devoted to the music of Belfast composer Piers Hellawell, a Black Box release of Ian Wilson's three quartets and a recording for Hyperion of works for quartet and soprano by

John Tavener Sir John Kenneth Tavener (28 January 1944 – 12 November 2013) was an English composer, known for his extensive output of choral religious works. Among his best known works are '' The Lamb'' (1982), '' The Protecting Veil'' (1988), and ''Song ...

. These recordings join a discography of twenty-one releases which includes the complete Beethoven Quartets and works by Haydn, Schubert, Dvořák, Janáček, Dohnányi,

E.J. Moeran } Ernest John Smeed Moeran (31 December 1894 – 1 December 1950) was an English composer of part-Irish extraction, whose work was strongly influenced by English and Irish folk music of which he was an assiduous collector. His output includes or ...

, Robert Simpson, John Tavener, John McCabe, John Kinsella,

Raymond Deane Raymond Deane (born 27 January 1953) is an Irish composer and co-founder of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Biography Deane was born in Tuam, County Galway and brought up on Achill Island, County Mayo. From 1963 he lived in Dublin, ...

Brian Boydell Brian Patrick Boydell (17 March 1917 – 8 November 2000) was an Irish composer whose works include orchestral pieces, chamber music, and songs. He was Professor of Music at Trinity College Dublin for 20 years, founder of the Dowland Consort, con ...

and Walter Beckett.

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rte Vanbrugh Quartet Classical music in Ireland

Vanbrugh Quartet The Vanbrugh, often styled The Vanbrugh and Friends and previously the RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet, is an Irish classical musical group. The resident string quartet to Raidió Teilifís Éireann, Ireland's national broadcasting service, until 2013, ...

Musical groups from Cork (city) String quartets

Organisation and history

Recordings

See also

References

External links