THE people of Blisland were in for a treat recently, welcoming the Dante Quartet into the local church for a delightful concert, where they performed some of Beethoven’s finest works.

Televisions today have a wonderful piece of technology; the ability to stop the programme, rewind and watch an incredible moment again. Whether it is a baby iguana being chased by racer snakes across Fernandina Island, a Joe Root cover drive for four at Lords, or Anne Widecombe in canary yellow being dragged across a dance floor, some things are worth watching again, whether for their drama, artistry or humour.

As the Dante Quartet struck the final chord to the final movement of Beethoven’s extraordinary opus 130, this was a time when many wished life had a rewind button, wanting to go back an hour and listen to the quartet’s concert all over again.

The interplay between two violins, a viola and a cello playing two such different pieces of music, and the acoustics of the lovely church of St Pratt’s, really made this a night to remember.

The audience listened to the four movements of Haydn’s joke quartet where there are amusing musical instances all the way through each of the movements.

However, the real joke comes at the end of the fourth, when Haydn, having three times made one think the music has ended only for the quartet to carry on playing, then plays the final trick because when the audience thinks they will continue again, the piece ends in mid-air.

Most people are brought up on Beethoven’s orchestral music. The opening of the fifth symphony, with fate knocking at the door, the Bonaparte triumphalism of the Eroica and the ninth, the Chorale, now permanently in disrepute as the anthem of the EU, together with his concertos, were certainly how some came to know the composer.

However, his string quartets are ‘in a class apart’. Beethoven was probably profoundly deaf when he wrote this six-movement piece of music opus 130 in 1825, just two years before his death.

There are some quite abstract, almost 20th century, themes in the first three movements, that make one think of Prokofiev or Ravel. The German dance of the fourth movement conjures up pictures of sedate gentlemen in lederhosen and hausfraus in pinafore dresses, waltzing round a village hall somewhere in Austria.

The fifth movement Cavatina, literally a singularly themed piece of music, wrings out more emotion that a whole series of Call the Midwife, but Beethoven had the last laugh and ends this piece on a joke just as Haydn did with his quartet. He was very put out when the original sixth movement, his great fugue, was snubbed by the critics.

He was reluctantly persuaded to redo the ending and so produced the blandest piece of string quartet music that he could muster up, with just a few strident chords in the middle to give the movement some colour. Not known for his humour, Beethoven was certainly a satirist.

Charles Whitehead said of the concert: “This was a superb concert, and we are very grateful to Krysia and the Dante Quartet for ending their busy week with us. With takings at the door, donations, raffle and auction proceeds, we totalled nearly £2,400 for the benefit of the church and the shop.

“Our thanks go to all who came and gave so generously, to the local business who donated the buffet, to the volunteers who gave their time to make it happen, and to Sherry Bryan for allowing us to use the church.

“I am sure we will be able to welcome the Dante back again to Blisland now that Krysia and Simon are truly living amongst us, so if you missed the concert, make sure you don’t miss the next one.”