Set of parts ( Violin I II; Viola; Cello; Bass)As the name suggests the ???Missa Popularis??? has its musical roots in folk music.This becomes clear in the very first bars of the Kyrie where the Violin plays amelody in the style of a Swedish folk tune above a Bass Ostinato. The musical charm of the Mass derives from the combination of Choir [SSA(TB)] and String Quartet.The Choral parts enable performances by female choir or mixed choir. In the latter case the String Quartet is reinforced by a Double Bass.The version for female choir was premi?red in Poznan on 25 April 2015 with Alicja Szeluga conducting the Skowroniki GirlsChoir.also available for sale full score (BA7420) and vocal score (BA7420-90)

John Luther Adams' Canticles Of The Sky for String Quartet. Composer's Note: In the Arctic sky the low angle of the sun and heavy ice crystals in the air often produce vivid halos arcs andsundogs (parhelia). Sometimes these phenomena create the illusion of multiple suns. 'Sky With Four Suns' is a musical evocation of such an apparition from sunrise to sunset. Similar visions also occur at night which isthe image behind 'Sky With Four Moons.' 'Sky With Nameless Colors' and 'Sky With Endless Stars' evoke the extraordinary depth and clarity of Sonoran Desert skies. This music is drawn from Canticles of the Holy Wind– a concert-length work for four choirs and vocal soloists. In this version sixteen separate choral parts have been condensed into the string quartet. String designations should be carefully observed. Frequent stringcrossings are employed to create as lush and continuous textures as possible. All sounds should be legato. Bowing is free and full throughout. Total performance duration is about 18:00

String Quartet No.3 was written for and first performed by the Balanescu Quartet February 1990 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall London. Duration 16 minutes. A score is available on sale..Quoting composer: In the summer of 1989 Icomposed a choral work Out of the Ruins for Agnieszka Piotrowska’s BBC2 documentary which dealt with the physical and emotional responses of some inhabitants of Leninakhan to the earthquake which devastated Armenia theprevious December. When he heard the recording of the work that I made with the Holy Echmiadzin Chorus under the fervent conducting of Khoren Meykhanejian Alex Balanescu suggested turning Out of the Ruins into a string quartet. There seemed no reason or opportunity to do this until I felt the need to add to the intensity of my experiences in Armenia the no less profound experience of witnessing the images of the Romanian revolution on television duringthe later part of December 1989.The compositional procedure was as follows: to take Out of the Ruins as a template on which the Romanian vocal or instrumental music would be superimposed quite often stretched into newintervallic shapes though the demands of the completely performed harmonic structure.

Bach was considered the master of choral music composing over 200cantatas. This sumptuous arrangement of Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring for string quartet now gives players the chance to experience thejoy of Bach at his best.

Three arrangements including Ave Verum Corpus and the Lacrimosa from the Requiem.During the year 1771 when Mozart was 15 years old he and his father Leopold were touring Italy which was at that time the most formidable citadel of the music world. In the following four years the young Mozart was received at the homes and villas of Italy's aristocracy. He met the most famous musicians of the time including Niccolo Piccinni operatic rival to Gluck and Padre Martini from whom he was to benefit from studies in counterpoint. He also met many noted male soprano singers and for one the celebrated Venanzio Rauzzini he wrote in 1773 the motet Exsultate Jubilate from whichcomes the well known Alleluia.At the end of his life only 19 years later in Vienna 1791 Mozart was very ill and working on a number of massive works such as the operas The Magic Flute and Titus also the Requiem. Titus was completed in 18 nerve-shattering days as it had to be performed in Prague in September 1791. At its premiere it was a complete flop. This affected the now overworked almost penniless composer's spirit and he returned to Vienna suffering from mental and physical exhaustion. Rest was denied him. The Magic Flute had to be finished for its premier on September 30th 1791. The task of the Requiem still faced him. In this weakened state Mozart thought that he was in fact writing his own requiem reading evil omens into the commissioning of the work. He thought someone had calculated the precise time of his death and was thus troubled with sombre thoughts. He completed the first two of the twelve parts. The next six parts were in an unfinished state and his manuscript ceased at the Lacrimosa. Süssmayer who was working closely with Mozart at the time was given the task of finishing the Requiem.Ave Verum Corpus is also one of his final works. It is a setting of an anonymous hymn written as a motet for Anton Stoll the choirmaster at Baden in June 1791.Mozart was a composer of great genius who