The Aroha Quartet performed for a small audience in Knox Church on Wednesday evening, with a programme entitled “Light and Dark.”

The Wellington-based string quartet opened their recital with a lightermood work —Haydn’s String Quartet in C Op.76 No. 3 (Emperor), famous for its variations on an anthem originally written for Kaiser Franz II. I found this a rather lacklustre delivery, but their other works were vibrant with impressive interpretation.

Toccatina (2010), an elegy in memory of Australian singer-songwriter Ruby Hunter, is by New Zealand composer Ross Carey. The six-minute work comprised a fast-moving agitated first section, before a darker, more passive mood, which ended with a return of the opening subject and a short coda bringing all to a peaceful conclusion.

String Quartet No 11 in F Minor Op 122 (1966) by Shostakovich opened with the violin announcing a main subject for development, then six more movements of diverse texture and dissonance followed without breaks. Many sinister and tragic passages definitely fulfilled the dark side of programme title, and the allegro was an exciting movement of contrast particularly for the 1st violin. The work ended surprisingly with an extended fade-out like a dispersing vapour trail.

Czech composer Dvorak wrote String Quartet No 12 in F Major Op 196 in 1893 when enjoying summer time in America. (Op 196 is nicknamed American). Allegro ma non troppo opened with glorious full-toned string timbre, and a highlight in the lento was the beauty of the cello’s melodic lines.

The work definitely had elements of American folk tunes, pentatonic and texturally dramatic in character, cross rhythms and syncopation, with the final movement almost a ‘‘hoe-down’’.

Aroha Quartet is a professional group with the talent and flair required to perform a contemporary repertoire with innovative interpretation and vision.