Matthew Hindson’s String Quartet No 3: Ngeringa was recently commissioned by Ngeringa Arts to commemorate the opening of The Ngeringa Arts Cultural Centre in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia.
Thought to become one of Australia’s finest chamber music venues, Hindson’s Ngeringa commemorated the opening of the sophisticated 200 seat auditorium on 30 August 2015. Hindson sought inspiration for the quartet from the founder of Ngeringa Arts, philanthropist Ulrike Klein (founder of the Jurlique skincare label), paying homage to their collective cultural vision. The 16-minute work was premiered by the distinguished Australian String Quartet on 30 August. They are currently touring the work throughout Australia.
REVIEWS:
'It’s a high-octane work (like many of his recent pieces), packed with memorable and dramatically satisfying ideas, and featuring string writing of enormous skill. There’s a lyrical element to offset the rhythmic intensity that reminded me of Janáček’s ability to combine catchy motivic cells with a dynamic forward momentum. The work has a programmatic element, celebrating the physical domain in which the new hall is located...With superbly disciplined playing, the ASQ launched into the energetic opening – no wishy-washy Namatjira landscapes here, this is a hard, hot, dry sort of a place – and proceeded to show us what four sharp-as-a-tack players with a decent rehearsal period are capable of. The 3rd section, in which Hindson explores the ‘Idea’ (or the creative thought) behind the Ngeringa Cultural Centre, creates a mood of magical stillness over which the viola spins a radiant melody before the work concludes in a spirit of warm optimism and joyous abandon. A significant addition to the Australian string quartet repertoire, then, and one that deserves a recording.'
Limelight Magazine (Clive Paget) 3 September 2015
‘...the ASQ turned in a vigorous performance of Hindson’s new quartet. With its gritty dissonances moving to serene meandering solos in violin and viola, it is a cogent work that graphically pictorialises the story of urban sprawl in an ancient landscape as represented by the rapidly growing Mount Barker township, and the creation of Ngeringa as a birthplace for new art.’
The Australian (Graham Strahle), 1 September 2015
‘Each movement offered a different angle of his prism. The untamed strong landscape engaged our eyes while our ears delighted in the contemplative music. Uncomfortable rhythms as ‘civilisation’ threatened the woodlands wild; violin and viola raised up The Idea and finally a crazy, jubilant dance for Construction and Realisation that left the players grinning. Hindson agreed that he had as much fun writing the piece as we all did hearing it.’
The Advertiser (Elizabeth Silsbury). 1 September 2015
'Matthew Hindson's String Quartet No 3 Ngeringa was a hit with its vivid descriptions of local scenes. Strong rhythmic propulsion and good tunes made a potent mix that clearly had added meaning for an Adelaide audience'.
The Advertiser (Rodney Smith). 10 September 2015