It was a beautiful concert as the ensemble, comprising John Gould (violin), Rita Woodhouse (cello), Lorraine Moxey (viola) and Ann Stevens (piano), had chosen a brilliant program which included Piano Quartet No 2 in E flat Major by Mozart, Gabriel Faure's Piano Trio Opus 120, the Andante Movement of Brahms' Quartet Opus 60 in C Minor and the stirring Piano Quartet Opus 47 in E flat Major by Robert Schumann.

The Hall was pleasantly warm when the concert began but the heating system was so loud it drowned out the music and had to be switched off in the first half. But the chilly conditions proved too much.

We took the decision to leave the heating on in the second half and the musicians just had to play a little louder but it's a pity that the Hall is not equipped with a better heating and cooling system. Considering that it was built almost ninety years ago and is an excellent and aesthetically pleasing performance space, it is unfortunate that those who are responsible for its maintenance haven't kept up with these essential matters.

All of the performers were outstanding, though I was a little disappointed that they had configured themselves so that the violinist completely obscured the pianist and I didn't have the pleasure of seeing her weave her musical magic and I think a more judicious positioning of the players would have been preferable but they had a very good understanding of each other and played nicely to each other's strengths.

The first part of the program went from the scintillating beauty of the Mozart piece through the darker moods of the Faure and then to the Andante movement of the Brahms Opus 60 where the richness of the cello and the power of the piano were very evident with the violin and viola adding colour and beauty to the performance. The movement began with a luscious melody played by the cello in its upper register with only the piano as accompaniment and the movement developed into a thing of beauty and contemplation. There's an interesting link between Brahms and Schumann here as a young Brahms began the piece during Schumann’s last illness, when Brahms was torn between despair for his friend and love for his friend’s wife. Brahms completed the piece some 20 years later but the depth of his passions are still very clear in the piece.

The tour de force in the program was the mighty Schumann Quartet, comprising the entire second half of the concert and is one of Schumann's most beautiful pieces revealing great passion and intensity which the ensemble captured with understanding and integrity.

The audience was reminded of the Scholars' Concert to be presented on Sunday August 24 at St Clements at 2pm and of the coming concerts at the Crisp Galleries on Sunday August 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31 at 2pm (details from Crisps) and the next Music Club concert on Saturday September 6 (note the change of dates from our brochure, as we gave up the September 20 to the Turning Wave Festival).

The Yass and District Hospital provided a delicious afternoon tea at interval and the ever popular raffle was well supported and raised $173 for the club.

More details of all of these concerts can be found on the Yass Music Club's website at www.yassmusicclub.com.

Planning for 2015 is already well in hand and we're delighted to be able to welcome back the ever popular "Idea of North", who will open next year's subscription series on Saturday February 7.

Brian Millett

Secretary - Yass Music Club