Royal Hall, Harrogate 

THIS was a special concert as the Medici Quartet formally retired at the Harrogate International Festival in 2007 but reformed particularly to play Sir John Tavener’s Toward Silence which he wrote for them. Now, they were to play his last string quartet, Scatter Roses Over My Tears, written shortly before his death last year.

The leader of the quartet, Paul Robertson, had a particular affinity with Sir John following near-death experiences suffered by each of them and attributes much of his subsequent recovery to a determination to play Tavener’s previous composition, Towards Silence.

I was sorry to miss his introductory talk, which included film clips in which he discussed his relationship with the composer.

The concert itself, despite being given in the rather large space of the Royal Hall, was surprisingly intimate.

Perhaps not unexpectedly, Scatter Roses Over My Tears began rather slowly and sombrely with some remarkably delicate and sensitive playing by the Medici.

What was unexpected were two brief, but quite chirpy pizzicato interludes separated by a droning section for viola and cello with the violins high and muted.

As a companion piece, chosen I imagine for its affinity of mood and circumstance, the quartet played a sombre version of the slow movement, Lento assai, from Beethoven’s last string quartet, No. 16, Op. 135, also written knowing it would be his last.

A second half performance of Mozart’s Dissonance Quartet, K.465, though including some welcome lighter and more animated sections, was rather soft toned and subdued, reflecting the circumstances.

Peter Bevan