As fans of Morecambe and Wise will recall, musicians are those people who can play all the notes in the right order, but, when a group of talented musicians are playing together at the top of their form, they can produce something on a far higher plane.
When Sarah Williamson and the Piatti Quartet ended their recent concert for the Peak Music Society, all the talk among the audience was of the incredibly high standard of the playing. Both the Quartet and the renowned clarinettist have received praise for their performances at many leading concert halls and this concert showed exactly why.
The technical ability was outstanding, but even more notable was their shared interpretation of the music and their absolute togetherness. At one point in the second movement of Carl Maria von Weber’s Clarinet Quintet the sound from all the instruments swelled in volume and richness as one voice, perhaps the high point of a stunning set.
They began with Five Bagatelles by Gerald Finzi, dismissed by the composer as ‘only trifle pieces’, but which became his most popular works. The pieces range in feeling from joyful to very reflective, sometimes very English and at others more quirky.
This was followed by von Weber’s quintet, which is considered particularly demanding for the clarinettist, who assumes a more prominent role, but the highlight for many, following the interval, was the Brahms Quintet, which the composer was inspired to write after being impressed at a private performance by the clarinettist Richard Muhlfeld in 1891.
Brahms had all but retired prior to this and the feel of the music is often appropriately reflective, although there are sections of creative passion and urgency. All of this was conveyed perfectly by the ensemble, who left the stage to a well-deserved ovation.
As the opening event of Peak Music’s 2025/26 season the concert set the standard for the forthcoming events, which are guaranteed to fulfil the Society’s aim of bringing the very bestartists to perform for a local audience.