SKU: HL.14008374

ISBN 9781846096150. UPC: 884088435202. 8.25x11.75x0.105 inches.

The Full Score for Peter Maxwell Davies' fourth in a series of ten string quartets commissioned by the Naxos Recording company, first performed by the Maggini Quartet on 20th August 2004 at the Chapel of the Royal Palace, Oslo, Norway, as part of the Olso Chamber Music Festival. Composer Note: The fourth Naxos quartet was written in January and February of 2004, with the intention of producing something lighter and much less fierce than its predecessor, an unpremeditated and spontaneous reaction to the illegal invasion of Iraq. I returned to the well-known Brueghel picture of children's games (1560, now in Vienna), which had been the inspiration for my sixth Strathclyde Concerto, for flute and orchestra. These illustrations liberated my musical imagination, but I feel it would limit the listener's perception to be too specific about which game relates to exactly which section of the work. Suffice it to say that there is vigorous play - leap-frog, bind the devil with a cord, truss, wrestling - alongside quieter pastimes - masks, guess whom I shall choose, courting, odds and evens. The single movement juxtaposes these activities as abruptly and intimately as they occur in Brueghel. Rather as the eye is taken into different perspectives and proportions of scale within the picture, taking liberties which would never be present in, for instance, Brunelleschi architectural drawings, so here, with a constant sequence of transformation processes, I have distorted the neat, precise implications of modal progression, expressed in the unison opening phrase (from F to B through A sharp/B flat), so that the ear is led, en route, into the sound equivalents of strange passageways and closed rooms: sicut exposition ludus. As work on the quartet progressed I became aware that I was reading into, and behind the games, adult motives and implications, concerning aggression and war, with their consequences. It was impossible to escape into innocent childhood fantasy. The nature of the F to B progression underlying the whole construction derives from a passage in the development of the first movement of Mahler's Third Symphony, and the opening of Schoenberg's Second String Quartet. However, unlike in these models, here a real - if temporary - sense of resolution occurs at the close of the quartet: as when the curtain falls on the reconciled Count and Countess in 'Figaro' one wonders how long the F/B truce will hold, and games break out again. The quartet is dedicated to Giuseppe Rebecchini, Roman architect, and friend since the nineteen-fifties.

SKU: CF.YPS257F

ISBN 9781491161968. UPC: 680160920648.

Break Through is my musical representation of one's struggle to pass through a barrier or move beyond an obstacle. This could be a literal breakthrough or a metaphorical achievement. The composition is centered around the key of G minor to achieve a dark, resonant emotion. The percussion is the heartbeat and pulse for the introduction and should follow all dynamics to match the winds. Soft rolling mallets should be used for the bass drum and gong rolls, creating a dark timbre without overpowering the ensemble. At Rehearsal 13, work to have a balanced section where the clarinets can be heard on the melody and the tenor sax and horn on the countermelody. Rehearsal 21 provides a fully scored variation of the theme and should continue to be as dark as possible. Rehearsal 29 is the final musical struggle before the Rehearsal 38 'break through' climax of the composition. The resolution of the relative major of Bb should be majestic and triumphant. Finally, rehearsal 48 transitions to a recapitulation of the opening theme, moving towards a contemplative ending back to G minor. I hope you and your ensemble enjoy perforinming Break Through.
Break Through is my musical representation of one’s struggle to pass through a barrier or move beyond an obstacle. This could be a literal breakthrough or a metaphorical achievement. The composition is centered around the key of G minor to achieve a dark, resonant emotion. The percussion is the heartbeat and pulse for the introduction and should follow all dynamics to match the winds. Soft rolling mallets should be used for the bass drum and gong rolls, creating a dark timbre without overpowering the ensemble. At Rehearsal 13, work to have a balanced section where the clarinets can be heard on the melody and the tenor sax and horn on the countermelody. Rehearsal 21 provides a fully scored variation of the theme and should continue to be as dark as possible. Rehearsal 29 is the final musical struggle before the Rehearsal 38 ‘break through’ climax of the composition. The resolution of the relative major of Bb should be majestic and triumphant. Finally, rehearsal 48 transitions to a recapitulation of the opening theme, moving towards a contemplative ending back to G minor.I hope you and your ensemble enjoy perforinming Break Through.