Renowned quartet to play classical music inspired by local area

One of Britain’s finest string quartets will be performing in Rickmansworth at the end of March to the delight of Three Rivers residents. The Maggini Quartet, which was formed in 1988, is known for championing British composers. Its recordings have won international awards, including Gramophone Chamber Music Award of the Year. Lead violinist Julian Leaper lives locally and over the past year the quartet has forged a special alliance with Three Rivers Music Society (TRMS). It is therefore appropriate that one of the pieces the Magginis will perform on March 31 is Arnold Bax’s First Quartet, a neglected masterpiece that the composer may have worked on while staying in Rickmansworth in 1918. Bax spent several weeks in the town’s Victoria Hotel during the March and April of that year and it is thought that at least part of String Quartet No. 1 in G could have been written in Rickmansworth. It was first performed in June 1918. The concert is at 7.30pm on Friday, March 31 at the Baptist Church, High Street Rickmansworth WD3 1EH with the free pre-concert talk beginning at 7.00pm. Details and online tickets via TRMS website – www.trms.elgar.org For more stories from your community read the March edition of RickyNews which will be distributed on March 3. Credit Maggini Quartet Facebook