Violist Michael Beeston of the Edinburgh Quartet, recently took some time out of his busy performing schedule to talk to Joseph Watson about the complete Hans Gál String Quartets', with Meridian and the inspirations behind it. BUY HERE

What (or who) first inspired you to learn the viola, and why?
My first exposure to music (as so often is the case) was through my family.  My great-grandfather (John William Harding), who had been organist and tutor at Hawick in the Scottish Borders in the early 20th century, moved to Blackpool where he became organist and choirmaster at Sacred Heart Church while working for many years as Musical Director at the Winter Gardens, conducting the orchestra in the ballroom.  His son, Joseph Haydn Harding, worked as a pianist, violinist and viola player for the Blackpool Tower Company, Opera House and Grand Theatre while also being organist at Sacred Heart Church, St Cuthberts and St Kentigerns.  It was he who gave me my early training on violin and piano from the age of 6, and he remained a strong influence.  His siblings included a cellist (Connie), pianist (Mollie) and violinist (Leo).

The family musical connection includes my brother Martin, a professional clarinnetist in Yorkshire, and is inevitably being continued by my daughters Amy (with degrees in Music Technology and Sonolgy from Edinburgh University and the Royal Dutch Conservatoire) and Jessica, a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music who is completing a Masters Degree in viola performance at The Mozarteum University in Salzburg while playing regularly with Camerata Salzburg and Salzburg Chamber Soloists etc.

Who or what has been the most important influence on your personal musical career?
Frederick Riddle, my teacher at the RMCM, was my greatest influence as a student, while Alexandre Moskovsky (formerly of the Hungarian Quartet) exerted a powerful impression on students fortunate enough to be in Manchester at that time, with his inspiring but demanding teaching.  A passion for string quartets was very much aroused by encouragement from Watson Forbes and by a great admiration for the playing of the Amadeus Quartet.

What was it about Hans Gál’s story and music that particularly compelled the Edinburgh Quartet to record this CD?
My early years with the Edinburgh Quartet were made the more exciting by having the opportunity to work regularly with composers Kenneth Leighton (then Reid Professor at Edinburgh University) and Hans Gál - perhaps retired from academic life but prolific and enthusiastic as a composer and coach of his own works, which the Edinburgh Quartet were frequently fortunate to premier.  This work with creators of music has continued with composers such as Thomas Wilson, Robert Crawford, Edward Harper, John MacLeod, Kenneth Dempster, Bill Sweeney, Eddie McGuire and others who may have been better-known names had they not chosen (or been born) to live in Scotland!  

Hopefully recordings such as those for Meridian of the complete string quartets of Leighton and Gál wll help to redress this.

Describe the day-to-day experience of working, performing and recording with such a distinguished and long-established string quartet.
The work we do for universities in Scotland is among the most exciting parts of being a member of the Edinburgh Quartet.  Resident at the Universities of Glasgow and Napier, Edinburgh, we also retain close links with the Universities of Edinburgh and Aberdeen in particular.  Scotland is of course a wonderful country to tour and our frequent travels around the Highlands and Islands are always a thrill.  It is also a fine base from which to travel our music more widely, and over the years we have visited most parts of the world.

Finally, please tell us what made you choose to record with Meridian?
We were delighted when Meridian first showed an interest in the music represented on our first disc - string quartets by Thomas Erskine Earl of Kelly, McEwen, McKenzie and Wilson.  This seemed to open up the possibilty of an enlightened and open-minded relationshilp, and so it has proved through various subsequent releases.  It is probably unusual but nonetheless delightful that Susanne Stanzeleit, leader of the Edinburgh Quartet from 1999-2003, has taken on the task of producing our Gál CDs along with her husband Richard Hughes.  The sound they have acheived, and the rapport acheived with a spirit of hard work and fun in the recording sessions, has hopefully resulted in these latest CDs demonstrating a quality of spontenaity in performance wchich would have been enjoyed by the composer.