Isla String Quartet & Jamie Cochrane

The Isla String Quartet and pianist Jamie Cochrane share an evening spanning four centuries — from Purcell’s contrapuntal fantasias to Bartók’s masterful fourth Quartet, with Schubert, Chopin and Godowsky’s mighty Passacaglia between.

This concert traces a compelling arc from the 17th century to the modernist heart of the 20th. The Isla String Quartet opens with two of Purcell’s Fantasias in Four Parts, intricate contrapuntal miniatures that showcase his mastery of imitative writing, before turning to Schubert’s Quartettsatz in C minor — a singlemovement fragment charged with restless energy.

Pianist Jamie Cochrane then takes the stage with Schubert’s Impromptu in G-flat major, a study in songful simplicity, followed by Godowsky’s monumental Passacaglia — a dazzling and virtuosic set of variations on the opening theme of Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony.

After the interval, Cochrane returns with Chopin’s Polonaise-Fantaisie, one of his most searching and structurally daring late works, blending improvisatory freedom with the noble stride of the polonaise.

The evening closes with the Isla String Quartet performing Bartók’s String Quartet No. 4 — a landmark of 20th-century chamber music, its symmetrical five-movement arch encompassing night-music atmospherics, folk-inflected energy, and visceral, percussive string writing that redefined the quartet medium.

Price: £14.50-£24.50