Free Press Interviews

For members of the Melbourne Guitar Quartet (MGQ), ‘playing the guitar’ means a lot more than just strumming a few simple chords. “Because the guitar has achieved universal popularity as a widely-played amateur instrument, its potential as a serious ‘concert instrument’ is often greatly understated.”

MGQ endured its embryonic phase in 2005 as four graduating members of the Victorian College of the Arts School of Music co-founded the ensemble with a vision of broadening the public’s ‘status-quo’ image of the guitar. Since then the ensemble have forged a reputation for their dynamic and passionate virtuosity.

MGQ’s critically acclaimed debut recording Four Elements is a regular feature on the national broadcasts of ABC Classic FM and has received the highest praise from distinguished composers Robert Davidson and Francis Kleynjans, whose music features on the album.

The guitar enjoyed a rapid rise in popularity amongst the concertgoing public in the 20th century thanks to a combination of advances in construction and the efforts of players such as Andres Segovia and Julian Bream. However now is not the time to be resting on the achievements of generations past according to the Quartet. “There is still so much unrealised musical potential with the guitar as a chamber music instrument.”

Australian innovations in guitar construction over the past three decades have exponentially augmented the dynamic range and sustain of the plucked note. MGQ play exclusively on Australian-made instruments, which draw a closer comparison to the instruments of a string quartet than the standard guitar ensemble people are familiar with. “Of course we perform on standard guitars but we also utilise the gigantic acoustic bass (played like a cello with a spike stuck in the ground) the treble guitar (a smaller instrument tuned a fifth higher than the standard guitar), and the octave guitar (a tiny instrument tuned a whole octave higher than the standard guitar). This broadening of the possible range of the guitar cultivates a whole new gamut of tonal possibilities. For this reason, MGQ are committed to arranging music for the guitar ensemble which was previously unthinkable.

“We are so excited to be performing our world-premiere arrangements for the idiom of guitar quartet on this tour.” The Quartet’s arrangements are both dramatic and eclectic, ranging from Australian composer Nigel Westlake’s Omphalo Centric Lecture (originally for percussion ensemble) to J.S. Bach’s Tocata and Fugue in D Minor (originally for organ), to Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla’s Tango Operita Maria de Buenas Aires.

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