The Alberni Quartet – Harlow’s famous musical group

In the early days of Harlow New Town the Council decided to recruit and fund its own classical string quartet. The first members were Dennis Simons (1st violin) Howard Davis (2nd violin) John White (viola) and Gregory Baron (cello). By the 1970s the quartet had become world famous in classical music circles, playing at Carnegie Hall and having works written for them by Benjamin Britten and Alan Rawsthorne. They went from rehearsing in a launderette to playing on the world stage. The quartet is still going, based in the West country after many changes of personnel.

Harlow Civic Society has celebrated the lives of many local citizens by commissioning and putting up blue plaques in their memory. This is the first time we have ventured on remembering a group rather than an individual. Two of the original members are dead, the others have retired. The two widows, one of whom still lives in Harlow, the other in London, have been very supportive, as have Harlow Chorus and other local bodies.

Blue plaques cost £1000 to make. The Civic Society seeks funding for this project. The plaque is intended for St John’s Arc in Old Harlow, where the quartet played. We will have a celebration concert for the unveiling, which will be in the indefinite future, depending on the pandemic. In the meantime we ask for donations from the local musical community and other Harlow citizens wanting to celebrate the memory of the early days of this phenomenal quartet.