Solem Quartet: Industry

The Solem Quartet stands apart for its adventurous approach, taking the string quartet genre to new and unexpected places. Praised for ‘immaculate precision and spirit’ (The Strad), the quartet uses inventive musical pairings to uncover fresh perspectives and bold musical storytelling.

The group’s latest project is forged in the sounds of mills, mines, and factory floors. Workers’ songs ring out through the music as weaving looms clatter and churn, their archive recordings becoming part of the quartet’s sound world. From traditional arrangements to Britten, new works, and a reimagining of Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart, this journey cuts through the industrial noise to reveal the legacy of communities built on graft, ingenuity, and resilience.

Programme
Part 1: work, industry
William Marsey Industry chorale i (new work)
soundscape
Traditional arr Tress Ca’ the Yowes
Traditional arr Marsey The Water of Tyne
archive: Scottish women’s Waulking song
Benjamin Britten Quartet No 2 (2nd movement)
archive: Ewan MacColl – Four Loom Weaver
soundscape
Julia Wolfe Dig Deep

Part 2: people, place

Missy Mazzoli Enthusiasm Strategies
archive: Tom Clough – Keel Row
Traditional arr Newell Keelman Ower the Land
archive: Welsh pub recording
William Marsey Industry chorale ii (new work)
William Marsey Be Nice To See You
archive: Joy Division – Love Will Tear Us Apart
William Marsey Industry chorale iii (new work)

Performers
Solem Quartet:
Amy Tress, William Newell violins
Stephen Upshaw viola
Stephanie Tress cello