Janácek's 2nd String Quartet Intimate Letters is regarded as a highlight of the modern string quartet literature. It was written during the composer?s last year of life between 29 January and 19 February 1928 inspired by the ageing Janáèek's exceptional love for Kamila Stösslová. The Moravian Quartet devoted themselves to this impressive work; Janácek attended a total of three of their rehearsals in May and June 1928. This had several consequences including his abandoning his original idea of using a viola d'amore. After Janácek's unexpected death (12 August 1928) the uncertain genesis of the work became the greatest problem of the IntimateLetters : the surviving copies were not definitively authorised. The editors of this new edition have reverted to Janácek's autograph sketches as the main most reliable source and using these as a basis have reconstructed the work as it stood at the point of Janácek's death. The musical text taken from the Critical Complete Edition of the Works of Leo? Janácek (Vol. E/4) therefore contains clear differences in comparison with older editions.

Joseph Haydn's Die Sieben Letze Worte Unseres Erlösers Am Kreuze. The Seven Last Words of Our Savior on the Cross' Op.51 In 1785 or '86 Haydn received a commission from the Canon of Cadiz for what would serve essentially as 'incidental' music for a Good Friday service (akin to the one centering upon The Stations of the Cross although there are twelve of those) in which the celebrant recites in turn each of Christ's utterances on the way to Calvary then gives a 'reflection' thereupon followed by music to accompany a brief interval of silent congregational prayer. To this Haydn added an introductory movement and a conclusiondepicting the earthquake that followed the passing of Jesus. The structure of the work then is: Introduction -- 'Father forgive them for they know not what they do.' -- Sonata 1 -- 'Verily I say unto thee today shalt thou be with me in Paradise.' -- Sonata 2 -- 'Woman behold thy son.' -- Sonata 3 -- 'My God my God why hast thou forsaken me?' -- Sonata 4 -- 'I thirst.' -- Sonata 5 -- 'It is finished.' -- Sonata 6 -- 'Father into thy hands I commend my spirit.' -- Sonata 7 -- Conclusion (Earthquake)

Version for String Quartet.Score available: KP00510The composer writes: 'In February 1987 I saw in the Tate Gallery in London a painting by the Victorian English painter John William Waterhouse. The painting kept haunting my memory and as I at the same time planned to write a piece for solo viola my ideas for the music and the memory of the painting fused more and more. I decided then to let my piece borrow the title of Waterhouse’s paint-ing: 'The Lady of Shalott'. The picture of a mad-like pale and perhaps singing woman alone in a boat without sculls which calmly slips out from the rush growth of the river is an illustration for the ending of Alfred Tennyson’s poemby the same title which again plaits into the old English legends about King Arthur. My piece tries to meander - like the river at Camelot - among these sources. As suggested above the piece was originally written for viola solo. The version for string quartet is from 1993.'

Score-This piece was commissioned by the Stanley String Quartet in 1958 and completed in 1959. It was awarded the Pulitzer prize in 1960. Scored for 2 Violins Viola Cello.