Brahms String Quartets II

Crichton Collegiate Church

Sun 18 Sept 11am

Concert duration: 1 hour 30 mins approx

String Quartet No 2 in A minor Op 51 No 2

Intermezzo No.2 in A major Op 118 (arr. Quatuor Agate)

String Quartet No 3 in B flat major Op 67



Half price concessions for students in full time education

2022 Video

Brahms was 40 before he felt able to publish his first two quartets. The melancholy Second is suffused with a profound sense of loneliness. The sunny Third, on the other hand, came to him much more easily on a summer holiday in 1875, a joyous finale to the series.

Seating Plan

See ticket prices for Crichton Collegiate Church, Crichton, nr Pathhead below.

Crichton Collegiate Church, Crichton, nr Pathhead

Around 1440, in the reign of King James II, William Crichton, then Lord Chancellor of Scotland, began this Collegiate Church of St Mary and St Kentigern, which may have been the site of an even older Christian shrine, and by 1449 his church, with his castle nearby, was complete. ‘Collegiate’ describes churches where priests and singing boys prayed daily for the souls of the great families who built and owned them. At Crichton a provost, eight prebendaries, two choir boys and a sacrist were appointed to pray for the souls of the Crichtons.

Lord Crichton led one of the three greatest Scottish families of the fifteenth century.  The Livingstones, the Douglases and the Crichtons were often at war with each other.  If the church looks like part of a fortified building, it is a reminder of dangerous days in this part of Scotland. After the Reformation, stripped back to an earth floor, with all the glass gone from the windows and most of the lovely medieval stone tracery destroyed, the church had become almost a ruin and only the great chancel roof survived. By 1569 it was being used as a parish church, and restoration work began in the 1580s. Further restoration was carried out in the 18th century and in the 1820s.

Used today for a variety of events including weddings and concerts, the building is now in the care of Crichton Collegiate Church Trust. Over the past 15 years the trust has completed two phases of restoration work, including a full restoration of the organ built by J Brook & Company of Glasgow in 1899.

Crichton Collegiate Church, Crichton, nr Pathhead

Address

Crichton Collegiate Church, Crichton, nr Pathhead
EH37 5XA

Getting there by bus

Crichton is not served by a direct bus service. The Borders bus service no 51 stops in Pathhead, 2 miles north east of the village. Lothian Bus service no 29 stops in Gorebridge, 4 miles west of the village.

Getting there by train

The nearest train station is in Gorebridge

Getting there by car

Crichton is off the A68 via Pathhead or off the A7 via Gorebridge.

Accessibility

Parking:

The church is at the end of a single track country road.

There will be ample parking in a field next to the church. Our stewards will be visible when you arrive and will help direct you to a parking place. We would ask you allow sufficient time to park and walk from the field to the church. The concert will start prompty and latecomers will be admitted if there is a suitable break. Thank you for your understanding.

We can offer 3 spaces immediately outside the church gate for blue badge holders. Please email [email protected] to book a space, subject to availability and on a first come first served basis.

Terrain:

Tarmac path up a slope to the church.

Toilets:
1 unisex, accessible by a ramp, single width so limited wheelchair access

Wheelchair Access:

By ramp to side of church.

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