On Sunday 21st November, the Manor House String Quartet were invited to give a recital for the final evening of the 41st Friends of Torbay Music Weekend. The Friends of Torbay are a group of like minded music lovers who gather together every year at the Palace Hotel in Torquay to enjoy a series of lectures, discussions, recitals and generally share in their enjoyment of classical music.

Our programme was Haydn String Quartet in D Op. 20 no. 4 (referred to as ‘The Sun Quartet’), Louise Bevan’s ‘Five Scandinavian Pieces’ and Louis Spohr’s String Quartet in G Op. 82 no. 2 (you can see us playing a movement from this fine work below):

All the pieces were well received by the audience and it has to be said that the hit of the evening was undoubtedly Louise’s five pieces. Many members of the audiences enquired as to whether they had been recorded and were eager to obtain a copy if so. Hopefully this should give Louise confidence in her work as a composer because they are really accomplished and a joy to play and listen to. We also ended the first half with ‘The Wexford Carol Medley’ – an arrangement from our Christmas disc entitled ‘I Saw Three Ships and other carols’ so a rousing finish that sent everyone off with a smile to the interval.

Manor House String Quartet — The morning after our concert for the Friends of Torbay Music Weekend

We thoroughly enjoyed the warm reception of an attentive audience who seemed to respond to our spoken introductions and many people supported us by purchasing a copies of both our Christmas albums.

The Friends of Torbay invite a different ensemble to play each year, but if at any point in the future they would like us to go back again, we would be only too happy to play for them.