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Digital Audio AlbumString Quartet No. 1 / Charles Edward Horsley ; Australian String Quartet.
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$POA
This item may be available to purchase from the Australian Music Centre. |
Product details
Charles Edward Horsley (1822-1876), son of a composer, was born in London, studied in Germany, associating with Felix Mendelssohn, Ignaz Moscheles and Ludwig Spohr.
He arrived in Melbourne in 1861, some years after the Gold Rush. He was an organist at churches in South Yarra and Richmond, and later at St Francis' Church, Melbourne, active as a conductor, festival organiser, critic, pianist and composer. His String Quartet in C major (1862) was probably the first ever written in Australia. Described as 'erratic', 'eccentric', 'impulsive', he had a gift for making enemies and when he left Australia in 1871 his achievement was soon forgotten. He spent his last three years as an organist and choir director in New York, achieved some success, and died there.
The Quartet, in the conventional four movements, is technically assured, romantic and lyrical, and appropriately Mendelssohnian.
Richard Divall AO OBE (1945-2017), deeply committed to recovering Australia's musical heritage, drew attention to Horsley's pioneering work, edited the Quartet and ensured that it was performed and recorded by the Australian String Quartet, just before his own, much lamented, death.
Duration: 32 min.
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