The Tinalley String Quartet – Adam Chalabi and Lerida Delbridge (violins), Justin Williams (viola), Patrick Murphy (cello) – is named for the laneway running through The University of Melbourne Parkville Campus where the Quartet was formed in 2003. Our recording of the month is their second release of Mendelssohn string quartets and features the Third and Sixth alongside the Four Pieces for String Quartet, Op. 81, a suite assembled from Mendelssohn’s papers after his death and published in 1850. Limelight caught up with the foursome to talk all things Mendelssohn.

Tinalley String Quartet

Tinalley String Quartet (L-R: Justin Williams, Adam Chalabi, Lerida Delbridge, Patrick Murphy). Image C. Brewster

This is Tinalley’s second Mendelssohn CD. What has been your own personal journey with the music of Mendelssohn?

Adam Chalabi: My first meaningful encounter with Mendelssohn came at the age of 14 playing his octet. I remember the first violin part in the coda of the first movement being one of the most exhilarating passages I had ever played or listened to (and it continues to get better every time I play it) – a truly hair-raising experience. There is something about how...