The comparativist

T he Elmore Quartet returned to a near-capacity Christ Church, where more than 250 music connoisseurs were lucky enough to hear Phantasy for String Quartet by Imogen Holst and a String Quartet n.º 12 in E flat, op. 127 by Beethoven. Phantasy  received the Royal College of Music Cobbett Prize for an original chamber composition in 1928; it is a piece reminiscent of Thatgamecompany's Journey  (2012), and is submerged in all the emotions displayed therein: a piece that sways from the spirited to the introspective whimsically— not too different from what the next piece's first movement does: The maestoso beginning of Beethoven’s String Quartet in E flat  also thrives on slowly building momentum, accelerating joyously and then stopping to breathe and reflect, only to grow explosive again. It was my favourite of what I did hear today, as I confess I had to leave early because I had left my car queuing in the temporary lights of Eastbank Street, and my wife inf...