5 minutes with Lachlan Bramble

What does She Speaks mean to you?

She Speaks is an example of affirmative action, acknowledging that without a concerted effort to change, no change will happen. So, in addition to the wonderful concerts, She Speaks is a way of improving and enriching our collective knowledge of music written by women for audiences and performers alike.

Why is it important to have a festival that showcases women composers?

For centuries classical music has been dominated by men whilst women’s voices have not been heard. Anyone who has ever been to a classical concert will know that all the pieces on the program are likely to have been written by men and if there is a conductor, they are probably a man also. An academic might call this systematic intergenerational gender discrimination, whereas a populist politician might simply say that women have never been given a fair shake of the sauce bottle.

Can you tell us more about the Elizabeth Maconchy piece your quartet will be performing?

Working on Elizabeth Maconchy’s 6^th String Quartet (1950) has been an absolute treat. Her cycle of thirteen quartets rivals anything else written in the 20^th century for complexity and drama. The prevailing mood of the slower movements is dark and intense, making special features of the of the viola and cello. The faster movements use complex rhythms to create a great deal of frenetic excitement. Step aside Shostakovich, Bartok and Britten – Elizabeth Maconchy is queen of the 20^th century string quartet!