Ensemble Q

Every so often a new work comes along that makes us all sit up and take notice, startled as we do so; Paul Dean’s concerto for cello and wind quintet is such a piece. It is gritty, lyrical, compelling, and in Trish Dean, has a phenomenal advocate. She is well matched by Paul and the other members of Ensemble Q, a sharp-shooting group of renowned wind soloists in Brisbane, brought together out of the desire to create a collection of ‘exceptional players and wonderful people’. This program demands much from each player, perfectly framed by the different ways in which composers since Beethoven have thought about wind instruments. It’s funny to think of the Ligeti and Barber works being composed within two years of each other, for they could not be more different – Barber an exponent of mid-century American lyricism, Ligeti an uncompromising modernist. They nonetheless rub shoulders most happily in this program, a snapshot of virtuosic wind writing. Program: BRITTEN Ciaccona from Second Suite for Cello, Op. 80 (1967) LIGETI Six Bagatelles for wind quintet (1953) DEBUSSY Syrinx (1913) BEETHOVEN Variations on ‘La Ci Darem’ (1795) BARBER Summer Music, Op. 31 (1955) DEAN Concerto for Cello and Wind Quintet (2018)