Music and the Written Word
The closing concert explores the enduring relationship between music and literature. Beethoven’s passionate Kreutzer Sonata, which inspired Tolstoy’s novella of the same name, takes centre stage in a programme which also includes works born of Shakespeare’s timeless characters. Rarely heard musical gems include Korngold's Suite from Much Ado About Nothing, a witty musical description of Sir Augucheek (Twelfth Night) by Paul Patterson (premiered at the Stratford-Upon-Avon Festival in 2005 by Joanne and David) and Debussy's La Danse de Puck, all woven together with sonnets and excerpts from the Bard's extraordinary output.
Performers:
Joanne Quigley McParland – Violin
David Quigley – Piano
Actor – TBC
Romantic Transformations
This concert brings together the emotional depth and textural richness of the late Romantic era. Brahms’ String Sextet in G major, Schoenberg’s richly romantic tone poem Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night) and the Sextet prelude from Capriccio by Richard Strauss unfold side by side with a brand new work by the acclaimed Irish composer Amy Rooney, specially commissioned for The Fews Ensemble.
Performers:
Stephanie Gonley – Violin
Joanne Quigley McParland – Violin
Rose Redgrave – Viola
Joel Hunter – Viola
Jonathan Aasgaard – Cello
Nick Trygstad – Cello
Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time
Olivier Messiaen’s extraordinary Quartet for the End of Time, composed in a prisoner of war camp in 1941, stands as one of the 20th century’s most radiant works — a meditation on faith, time, and transcendence. Scored for the unusual combination of clarinet, violin, cello, and piano, its stillness and ecstasy are given voice in the resonant atmosphere of Carlingford Heritage Centre.
Performers:
David Quigley – Piano
Joanne Quigley McParland – Violin
Francesco Paolo Scola – Clarinet
Jonathan Aasgaard – Cello
Elgar & Vaughan Williams: English Voices
Poetry, landscape, and the English spirit
Edward Elgar’s Piano Quintet in A minor and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ On Wenlock Edge capture both the grandeur and intimacy of the English musical imagination. Rooted in poetry and landscape, these works intertwine melancholy, tenderness, and timeless beauty - a fittingly evocative opening to The Fews Ensemble’s 2026 season at Carlingford Heritage Centre.
Performers:
Aaron O’Hare – Tenor
David Quigley – Piano
Joanne Quigley McParland – Violin
Tom Jackson – Violin
Jonathan Aasgaard – Cello
Viola – TBC