The Night With… The Robinson Panoramic Quartet

The Robinson Panoramic Quartet is a pioneering group exploring the possibilities of an alternative to the conventional string quartet in which both tonal palette and range are extended. Composers have reacted very enthusiastically and we have already built a significant repertoire for Panoramic String Quartet. Audiences have been delighted by this revelation in string chamber music, and excited by the dynamic and rapport of the ensemble.

This grouping is definitely not just like a standard quartet with a few extra low notes: the shift in roles for viola and cello changes everything, and the double-bass adds a wealth of potential textures and timbres. Having four distinct voices rather than two identical ones at the top invites the composer to explore four identities and also facilitates greater overall equality because no instrument has timbral dominance. The range of the violin extends far beyond the upper limit of the human voice and the extension to the lower range afforded by the double bass seems an entirely logical balance.

The Robinson Panoramic Quartet is Anita Vedres violin, Robin Panter viola, Kate Ellis cello, and Malachy Robinson bass

The concert will include the premiere of a new work by David Fennessy, Matthew Whiteside’s Quartet for Violin, Viola, Cello and Double Bass and Raymond Deane’s Quadripartita.