The Vanbrugh & Friends

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov - String Sextet in A major 

Franz Schubert - String Quintet in C major D.956

Monumental, intimate, dreamy, earthy, triumphant, despairing... Schubert’s extraordinary string quintet is all of these things and more. It was the last completed work of the terminally ill 31-year-old composer and is recognised as one of the greatest works in Western music. Rimsky-Korsakov’s 1876 string sextet is, by contrast, a seldom played rarity, but is full of charm and invention, exploiting the rich sonority of the six instruments to the full and featuring a lyrical and expressive slow movement.

The Vanbrugh has evolved from the work of the Vanbrugh Quartet which was based in Cork as RTE’s Resident Quartet from 1986 to 2013 and as Artists-in-Residence at University College, Cork from 1990 until the retirement of violinist Gregory Ellis in 2017. Over three decades the quartet gave close to three thousand concerts, presenting the chamber music repertoire to audiences throughout Ireland, Europe, the Americas, and the Far East. Commercial recordings include more than thirty CDs of repertoire ranging from the complete Beethoven quartets to many contemporary Irish works. In 2016 the group was presented with the National Concert Hall’s Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of their contribution to music in Ireland. Keith Pascoe, Simon Aspell, and Christopher Marwood continue to perform together as the nucleus of the Vanbrugh and are joined by guest artists for performances of a wide range of chamber music repertoire.