MUSIC lovers in Melrose are welcoming in the decade with one of Schubert’s most loved and poignant works.

The acclaimed Fitzroy String Quartet will perform at the first Melrose Music Society concert of the 2020s later this month.

First violin Dan-Iulian Druta, who comes from Moldova, was Junior Guildhall Lutine Prize winner and makes regular appearances as a soloist with professional orchestras in the UK and mainland Europe. Laura Custodio Sabas from Catalonia, second violin, graduated from the Royal Academy of Music, where she was a member of an elite ensemble, has given chamber music recitals across the world and played with renowned professional orchestras.

The viola player, Emily Pond, also graduated from the Royal Academy of Music after obtaining a first class BMus (Hons) degree at the RNCM in Manchester where she won the Viola Competition.

As artist in residence in Italy in 2013/14, she gave recitals with leading European musicians and appeared with top European orchestras.

Cellist Michael Newman obtained a Masters in Music degree with distinction at the Royal Academy of Music, also studied at the RNCM where he was a prize-winner for Romantic chamber music, and has performed widely as a soloist.

On Saturday, January 18, collectively as the Fitzroy String Quartet they will perform Schubert’s D minor Quartet, D 810 (Death and the Maiden).

This four-movement piece derives its title (albeit not Schubert’s) from the slow movement which is a set of variations on a theme from the composer’s song, Tod und das Mädchen.

The lyricism of this section of the quartet contrasts with the rhythmic energy of the opening movement and the ferocity and frenzy of the scherzo and the presto finale.

The concert opens with a String Quartet in E flat major in three movements, by Boccherini, perhaps best known for the Minuet from his string quintet in E major, made famous in the 1955 movie, The Ladykillers.

This will be followed by Benedict Mason’s String Quartet No. 1. Composed in 1987, it is a musical journey in five parts: perambulation, fast travelling, observing both standing still and travelling, and, finally, returning.

The programme finishes with the Schubert quartet, written in 1824 when the composer knew he was dying.

Tickets, priced at £15 and free for accompanied school-age children, will be available on the Melrose Parish Church Hall door.

The concert is scheduled to start at 7.30pm.