YOU normally expect to hear symphonic arrangements of pop songs in lifts or waiting rooms, but the London-based Allegri String Quartet discovered it was well suited to a more formal setting.
Peter Carter, lead violinist for the quartet, explained that he had been speaking to his neighbour, a photographer, about setting up a photo shoot.
''He said we couldn't afford his fee, and that he would do it if we played at his wife's 40th birthday party,'' said Carter, who has headed the quartet since 1976.
The quartet agreed, and found themselves wracking their brains for pieces other than their usual chamber music repertoire of Brahms, Beethoven and Schoenberg.
The result was a Beatles medley, including such songs as Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds and Eleanor Rigby. While the latter lent itself to a classical arrangement due to its symphonic overtones, the former proved much more taxing.
''It was a surprising amount of work,'' said Carter.