Review: The Gildas Quartet at the King’s Lynn Town Hall

The second week of the King's Lynn Festival always showcases young and exciting musicians rising to the top of their game in a series of popular coffee concerts. The first featured the superb musicianship of The Gildas Quartet.

The programme began with Haydn's Quartet in D Minor, Op 76. One of Haydn's later works, it is a sublime and formidable piece and was played with wonderful energy and assurance.

Next was Beethoven's Quartet in E Minor Op 59 No 2, one of three commissioned by Count Rasumovsky. The long adagio second movement, inspired by a contemplation of starry skies, was a highlight, as was the foot-tapping fourth movement featuring a mandatory Russian folk song element to please the Count.

The concert ended with young composer Ben Pease-Barton's Flytande, a complex and unusual piece beautifully evoking the rhythms of traditional Scandinavian music.