{TABLE} Quartet in F Op 18 No 1 .......... Beethoven Quartet in C op 59 No 3 .......... Beethoven Quartet in E flat Op 127 ......... Beethoven {/TABLE} SATURDAY night's concert at the Royal Hospital Donnybrook justified the claims of many that the Vogler String Quartet is in the premier league of string quartets. The insight and confidence which the Voglers showed throughout their demanding, all Beethoven programme, made the concert a treat from beginning to end, and a testament to the good judgement of the Limerick Music Association, which brought them to Ireland in 1988, and is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a superb range of concerts running until next May.

This quartet does not aim for that impeccable blend which the Amadeus Quartet established as a desideratum from the 1950s on. The players can, produce that type of sound if they choose; but it is just one component in a large expressive arsenal. Perhaps the most impressive feature of this concert was not its expressive range so much as the judgement shown in finding an expression which seemed perfectly suited to the musical context.

All three of the Beethoven quartets on this programme Op. 18 No. 1 in F, Op. 59 No. 3 in C, and Op. 127 in E flat - include elaborate contrapuntal textures, most obviously in the finale of Op. 59 No. 3. The latter was carried of with tremendous dash. But the new type of counterpoint" which Beethoven declared he was using in the late quartets is even more demanding. In Op. 127 the Voglers used their talents with colour and dynamics in a strikingly individual way, to explore and highlight detail.

Detail, however, always served a larger purpose. These musicians can use rhythm to create phrasing on a vast scale. From the cello pizzicatos in the slow movement of Op. 59 No. 3, to the splintered phrasing of the Scherzo in Op. 127, the impression of knowing spontaneity was extraordinary.