Music / Aurora, The Australian String Quartet. At Gandel Hall, National Gallery of Australia, November 17.  Reviewed by SARAH BYRNE.

Rescheduled from its original performance date of November 3, this was, as expected, another excellent concert from the Australian String Quartet.

Current incumbents Dale Barltrop (first violin), Francesca Hiew (second violin), and Chris Cartlidge (viola) were joined by guest cellist, the outstanding Charlotte Miles, a serene and unflappable locum for the exuberant Michael Dahlenburg.

The ASQ is the beneficiary of an extraordinary collection of 19th century instruments by Guadagnini, and I was particularly struck by their utterly glorious tone, the first violin (“Turin”) especially sounding with uncommon sweetness.

The program began with Haydn’s String Quartet in D Major, the allegretto opening with smooth politesse before accelerating into the allegro bowing in absolutely perfect time.

The largo (cantabile e mesto) was stately and graceful, fading into melancholy rubato, before the more sprightly menuetto movement, the musicians perfectly matched. The fourth movement (finale: presto) evoked a chase or hunt, the cello answering the racing violins to a rounding finish. A very Haydn piece, perhaps foreshadowing moments of his friend Mozart.

Barltrop introduced the second piece, the first string quartet by contemporary Finnish composer Olli Mustonen, with some slightly alarming descriptors, including “tightly wound”, “ferocity” and “be warned”.

While all of that was justified, the piece was fantastic, opening with anxious violins and lachrymose viola over a sinister throb of cello, and then careening through all the emotions, savage discord giving way to folksy Bartok-inspired melodies like an old drunk pin-balling between aggression and sentimentality.

When outside thunder rolled aptly in the first movement, it seemed part of the score. The much more Romantic third movement was more careful and tuneful, and rightly described as “hypnotic” (a hint of Ravel). The fourth movement brought more calculated discord but also beautiful cello runs and bouncing viola until a breakthrough to melody and an amazing crescendo of frantic bowing in perfect synchrony.

The final piece, introduced by Hiew, was Grieg’s String Quartet No 1, with which I was not particularly familiar, and which I find hard to describe except by saying that it contains multitudes. Hiew referred to  Grieg’s mastery of “small forms” and described the collections of fragments in each movement as being almost like diary entries, and I don’t think I can do any better than that.

For the first movement alone (“un poco andante – allegro molto ed agitato” – as if that wasn’t contradictory enough), my notes give me “generous and grave”, “then v quick”, “escalating gypsy”, “almost Brahmsy”, “lovely and playful, then swift and sad”, “a bit Russian, even”, “then sweet and sentimental”. And “so many false endings!”

The fourth movement is the most emotionally consistent, which was almost a relief. This is a remarkable piece I think I will need to listen to again to fully appreciate, let alone describe. And the ASQ’s flawless performance was astonishing.

The ASQ turns 40 in next year, and is hoping to raise $1 million to support new works from Australian composers. I am already putting the 2025 dates in my diary; this is impressive stuff.