We discovered early on in our career as a string quartet, that we have a shared love of the English C.20th composer Benjamin Britten, so we really wanted to make his music the focus point of our project Ellipse, which became the programme of our debut CD. The decision to pair his String Quartet No. 2 with a modern work by American composer Caroline Shaw’s ‘’Plan and Elevation’’ came very naturally, as there are many parallels to be found in their respective sound worlds. Both composers envisage open and spacious scenery: in Britten’s case, the vast sea landscapes of the Suffolk coastline; in Caroline Shaw’s, the stunning grounds at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington D.C. At their core, these works embody the extreme vocal possibilities of string instruments, as well as an intuitive understanding of the intricacies of string quartet writing. 

Although we didn’t record any of his works on the CD, Henry Purcell plays a central role in our programming, and his Chaconnes feature in our live performances. His Chaconnes were the inspiration behind the third movement of Britten’s String Quartet No. 2 and we can draw on the connection between the five ground bass lines in Shaw’s Plan and Elevation, which form the basic movement of each of the five pieces, and the ‘Chaconne’ as a Baroque dance.  This in turn led to the idea of commissioning a composition based on music from The Dancing Master: essentially an instructive dance manual and collection of English dances compiled by a contemporary of Purcell called John Playford in 1651 and brilliantly arranged for us by Arthur Klaassens in 2022. neere the Church doore offers a glimpse into the festive world of 17^th century England, through a modern lens. This dancing energy is reflected in Britten’s early string quartet Three Divertimenti on our Ellipse CD.