A couple of parish notices today, quick fire bits of things you might feel you need to know are happening…  The Ligeti Quartet were brilliant last time we encountered them playing with the United Sounds of Joy – “The rather mesmerising Ligeti Quartet were up first, amazing four-headed chemistry, incisely sharp interplay, how do they do that? Sometimes delicately minimal, sometimes bursting with speed and energy, always mesmerising, never wreckless, four classical string players sat is a semi-circle in front of what is essentially a spell-bound rock audience and holding everyone’s attention in such a wonderfully engaging way, Avant-garde classical string players and an inspired mood-setting left-field choice and far more besides, they were brilliant actually, such intricate interaction, such warmth… it would be fair to say they rocked”.     .

“The Ligeti Quartet is dedicated to presenting exciting and innovative programmes, performing and commissioning new music, and promoting the string quartet in the UK and abroad”.

The four of them perform on Friday, 17 February, over at Kings Place, london N1 – their programme for the night features the following pieces; György Ligeti String Quartet No. 1, Métamorphoses nocturnes (1952-54), Christian Mason Tuvan Songbook (2016), Lou Harrison Estampie, from String Quartet Set (1978), Fodé Lassana Diabaté Nana Triban, from Sunjata’s Time (2016), Béla Bartók String Quartet No. 5 (1934) and the chemistry between the quartet really is something special, something you need ot see for yourself to really experience their magic…

“This concert showcases the expansion of the string quartet repertoire to include music from beyond the Western classical tradition. Christian Mason’s Tuvan Songbook is part of a series of Songbooks to be commissioned by the Ligeti Quartet, each based on a tradition of overtone singing from around the world. ‘Melodicles’ is a musical concept invented by American composer Lou Harrison, whose centenary is celebrated in 2017. His String Quartet Set borrows from medieval European and Eastern influences.

Fodé Lassana Diabaté’s Sunjata’s Time, commissioned by the Kronos Quartet for the ‘Fifty for the Future’ project, depicts Sunjata Keita, the warrior prince and founder of the Malian Empire. The string quartets of György Ligeti and Béla Bartók evoke the folk music of Hungary and neighbouring nations”.

Kings Place event details/tickets  – Kings Place is at 90 York Way, London, N1 9AG.

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“The Ligeti Quartet, performs a movement of Terry Riley’s “Salome Dances,” Wu Man’s “Four Chinese Paintings,” Fodé Lassana Diabaté’s “Sunjata’s Time,” and Garth Knox’s “Satellites” and in Zankel Hall as part of the culminating performance of the Kronos Quartet Workshop presented by the Weill Music Institute of Carnegie Hall. Fodé Lassana Diabaté’s “Sunjata’s Time,” Garth Knox’s “Satellites,” Wu Man’s “Four Chinese Painting” were composed for Kronos Quartet as part of Fifty for the Future: The Kronos Learning Repertoire”

Meanwhile, up there in the North, a spokesperson for the rather relentless Scaramanga Six says they have “emerged from their murky hideout once more, their many busy appendages pumped full, old casings cracked and shaken away, hardened and hungry with abdomens bloated ready to burst forth”.  A new single has been set free, the long-sounding Leeds band are sounding as fine as ever with thier bits of Pulp toying with The Who and classic English 70’s flavoured pop from a time when pop was really rock and The Sweet were the coolest band in the world. Here#s the new single, a taste of the next album

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More from the spokesperson,

“So it appears THE SCARAMANGA SIX have emerged from their murky hideout once more, their many busy appendages pumped full, old casings cracked and shaken away, hardened and hungry with abdomens bloated ready to burst forth.

Over the past 14 months, the irrepressible group have been back to Lord Alan Smyth’s studio in Sheffield galvanising a new arsenal of material that will come to form their 9^th studio album. So much has been accrued of sufficient quality that they have finally taken the inevitable step of planning a double-album. The title of this work will be ‘CHRONICA’ – containing an abstract story roughly hewn from a concept of a dystopian island society. A place where everything has fallen into ruin, yet people still seem to have the same preoccupation with the trivial crap they had before. The population trudge through a chaotic existence on top of each other with absolutely no hope of a better life. Society is reduced to its base behaviour yet people still crave superficial fixes. The human condition carries on regardless. There is no outcome, no lessons to be learned.

The Scaramanga Six aim to release this monster in the summer of 2017 on heavyweight double vinyl as well as the usual digital formats via the medium of the PledgeMusic platform that worked so well for their previous album, ‘The Terrifying Dream’. There will be a trove of other pledge-based exclusives made available, some generous and some personalised and abusive. Watch this space for more information about this soon”.