Methera
North Westmorland Arts, Appleby - November 2010
"When the capacity audience first walked into Appleby’s Public Hall last Sunday night for North Westmorland Art’s concert by string quartet "Methera", they will have realised that something different was ahead of them. The normal serried rows of stage-facing chairs had been replaced with a raised platform in the middle of the hall’s floor and the seating arranged "in the round", facing inwards.
House lights off, the four young musicians were huddled in a tight circle facing in towards each other; picked out by overhead spotlights, the warm colours of their instruments were glowing in the surrounding dark. No music stands cluttered the stage, as the notes were already secure in their heads allowing a level of musical focus that was immediately obvious before a note had been sounded. And then they started to play. This is an ensemble of classically-trained string players performing traditional music within the setting of a standard string quartet and so, once their bows are moving, the first impact they make on their audiences is probably the quality of sound that they produce. That first note was so special it just set the tone for the rest of the evening. Gorgeous tones, sometimes dramatic and other times subtle use of dynamics, an innate musicality all came together to delight the audience for nigh on two hours. An interesting sense of theatre was clear too, the finishing flourish of the four instruments’ bows frequently stabbing out into the dark with precisely the same trajectories and the even group’s acknowledging bows to the audience started back-to-back, facing outwards like duellists, turning what might have otherwise been a mere formality into a little artwork in itself.
Probably a good half of the programme was composed by Methera’s own musicians and the pieces invariably used some fascinating counter melodies and harmonies that at times had a Bartok-like quality to them, harmonies that took time to resolve, moving in from what appeared to be uncompromising stand-offs, only to slide into compliance with each other from an unexpected angle. One minute, the sonorous ’cello of Lucy Deakin was providing that stoical role of the group’s metronome but the next, she was plucking out pure funk, developing a rhythmical theme that struck out against the activities of her fellow musicians, giving them something to react to and to counter. Freed from having to follow the notes on a score in front of them, the four were able to switch their focus around within their circle, engaging with whoever might have the theme, transferring it like a relay baton from one to another. Always smiling, always animated and the audience apparently hooked as they gazed inwards onto this private, sometimes risky musical party.
Emma Reid (fiddle) revealed to the audience her semi-Swedish pedigree, but the give-away traces can be picked out in her compositions, an interesting brooding quality that hints at the Norse and the dark forests of Sweden. Evidence of the contemporary elements in their inspiration were evident in a piece by John Dipper in which the lyrical embodiment of a serene appraisal of the carpet of Oxfordshire lying beneath a local viewpoint is rudely shaken by the looming into view of Didcot Power Station, discordant double-stopping heralding the precise moment of the encounter.
The end of the concert came all too swiftly, but the thunderous undying applause swiftly turned into an extraordinary unison clap - much as one might hear anywhere East of Berlin – which the quartet could ignore no longer.
Their final return to the stage was to deliver another home-grown piece as an encore, this time written by viola-playing Miranda Rutter. Entitled ‘1st September’ it portrayed a languid boat trip down the River Thames whilst Sand Martins swooped low over the water, dipping to pluck flies from the surface. The imagery was just fabulous and was a cleverly-pitched bedtime lullaby to send the concert goers home utterly contented and feeling thoroughly entertained."
"Syrinx", published on NWA website and in the Cumberland & Westmoreland Herald
Methera
Holywell Music Rooms, Oxford - November 2010
"If I had to sum up tonight’s gig in one word I think it would have to be sublime. That moment when a great band (more on them shortly), a lovely venue (tonight we are treated to the fantastic acoustics and ambience that only the oldest custom-built concert hall in Europe (the Hollywell Music rooms) can provide) and some pretty good company (in the form of the other string players from my band) combine to provide an experience that seems to go well beyond the sum of its parts.
Methera have been together since meeting at a Chris Wood workshop at Ruskin Mill (the name, in case you’re interested comes from the old shepherds way of counting; yan, tan, tethera, methera etc. Methera being the number 4). Their self titled debut was issued in 2008 and they have just released a further live album. Although ostensibly a ‘straight’ string quartet (violins - Emma Reid, John Dipper, viola - Miranda Rutter and cello Lucy Deakin) their arrangements of tunes are anything but ordinary. Tonight’s gig has been put on by the Oxford fiddle group and their conductor Tom provides an enthusiastic introduction. "Tonight we are treated to the wonderful sound of Methera, although many Quartets have played here since this building was built I doubt any have been quite like this one. Without any further ado Methera". The four musicians arrive, all clothed in subtly different shades of brown, to take one of four seats facing each other in the middle of the room (the audience are arranged on the outside of this and there are even chairs on what should be the stage). There is no immediate introduction instead the quartet launch into their first tune and the 90 minutes that follow create swirling pattern of tunes/ideas/feelings that prove what capable musicians all of Methera are.
Emma Reid seems to take the immediate lead with her strong fiddle style, but the pure English consistency of John Dipper isn’t far behind and the viola and cello also vie for their share of the tunes. The member’s take it in turns to explain a little about the origins of the traditional tunes being played or provide background to their own compositions. Despite all instruments playing at the same time nothing directly competes with anything else, they all fit together in such a way that each player is contributing equally to the glorious sound now emanating from the quadrant. What is even more surprising is there is still the space for the subtleties of the individuals sound and nuances to be appreciated.
Throughout the gig the musicians swap chairs and the cube becomes closer together as they are drawn forwards by their need to hear and watch each other. Far from excluding the audience however the music and the interaction of the band means the tunes take you with them. We are treated to a mixture from both albums tonight about half traditional (Cobblers Hornpipe, Seven Stars & Gower Wassail) interspersed between band compositions like John Dippers Dragon Food, Emma Reid’s Fine Lady and 1st of September, a tune about birds swooping over a canal by Miranda Rutter. Indeed a lot of the playing seems to draw on natural themes and images. Whilst listening to a tune during the latter half I’m reminded of being stood on the shore of Skye just as the dawn was breaking, there was no one else about just me, the sea and a lot of pebbles on the shore. The sun hit the water and the light turned the scene into something almost unreal, into something I’d never seen before (or since). Just for a second the whole world seemed to stop and be perfect, then just as quickly the moment broke. With Methera however these moments keep building and building and when the end of the set comes there is just pure silence, no one can quite bring themselves to cut the magical threads of sound that swirl round the band, drifting to the ceiling. Finally however we fall back down and the applause starts.
I begin to wonder if I was the only one affected as the everyday business of leaving the venue starts around us. But looking around during the gig everyone’s faces told the same story, what was happening in the centre of the floor was something very special indeed. I don’t know what blend of Alchemy Methera summoned, all I know is throughout warm summer days and cold winter evening their music should find a place with everyone."
Vikki, published on sausagefox.com
Methera at Fiddle’s on Fire
King's Place, London - 2009
"As I walked into the Folkworks southbound venture of their strings extravaganza, usually staged on home territory, director Ali Anderson was beaming broadly at its resounding success. Having started a few years ago as a series of Southbank concerts, the ensuing weekend school has expanded to workshops on the Karnatic violin of South India, Klezmer, Romanian, Irish, Welsh, Scottish, Scandi as well as English, all of which were in evidence in perfectly executed session groups scattered throughout the vast, dual-level reception area where the bar spills out onto the canal banks of a beautifully restored Grand Union wharf behind King’s Cross station.
It was hard indeed to melt into one of the performance rooms to hear the Methera Quartet on what was, amazingly, their first London gig. but well worth the wrench. John Dipper and Emma Reid (violins), Miranda Rutter (viola) and Lucy Deakin (cello) play traditional and newly-composed music without manuscript on chairs facing inward for instant communication while the sheer joy of music making spirals from the formal, cohesive structure of the string quartet, breaking lots of conventions yet respecting the tradition. The two under-10s in front of me with violins tucked under their chairs were entranced, as was everyone.
The four musicians stand after each tuneset and move one chair on. introducing the pieces in turn with just enough information yet not breaking the flow. They combine traditional tunes drawn from, principally, English, Swedish and French sources with new compositions from themselves, Robert Harbron, Roger Tallroth and Jean-François Vrod. The effect is mesmerising and exhilarating.
Karen Tweed has described their music as "a marvel of musicality: sublime, beautiful, intense and passionate" and Verity Sharp said it was "seriously stylish". It’s difficult to top this, merely to emphasise how their personalities and enthusiasm shine through their sublime technical ability.
See them wherever you can: http://www.methera.co.uk/gigs.html"
Diane Easby, published in fRoots forum
Kerr Fagan Harbron and Methera
National Centre for Early Music, York - 2008
" FOLK trio Kerr Fagan Harbron and string quartet Methera delighted an audience in York with their virtuosity.
Playing without amplification to take full advantage of the medieval church’s natural acoustics, the musicians gave a fresh lilt to gems from the folk repertoire.
When required, this "magnificent seven" played with panache - yet there were plenty of deft touches too, as they created memorable filigrees of sound.
Fiddler Nancy Kerr and bouzouki player James Fagan, a celebrated folk duo, have joined forces with concertina maestro Robert Harbron to freshen up songs and tunes from Britain, Ireland, Australia and America.
Gustav Holst’s famous hymn tune Thaxted provided a stirring introduction to Kerr’s interpretation of the Australian folk song Leaving Old England, complete with its grumpy old convict subtext. Fagan sang with great feeling the lyrical anti-war song Farmhands And Masters. Methera use the dynamics of the classic string quartet to explore folk tunes both old and new. John Dipper, fellow fiddler Emma Reid, viola player Miranda Rutter and cellist Lucy Deakin showed great empathy as they huddled together, without music stands, playing from the heart.
Their combination of a Swedish waltz with a French bourree was sublime, as was their version of the Harbron tune Copernicus - inspired by the Polish astronomer. The two acts conjured up some wonderful ensemble playing when they shared the stage for the second half of Friday nightrsquo;s concert -- the first of their debut tour. Their exuberant encore was charged with the joy of music-making. "
Richard Foster, published in York Press
