SKU: PR.114405050

UPC: 680160008377. 11 x 14 inches.

Although structurally it subdivides into five movements, the entire quartet emerges as one vast continuum. There are no formal breaks between movements. However, certain musical signposts can be discerned, associated with each of the movements' terminations and new beginnings. The opening movement, The Nostalgia of Clanging Bell Sonorities, begins floating on recurrent Bbs whose soft rhythmic flow slowly puts into motion strong undercurrents suggestive of the latent power of water... After several suggestions of tolling bells, the movement gradually fades into hushed tones of veiled and very distant sonorities. It uses a unique efffect, for the first time in a musical context, conveyed through the use of extra heavy practice mutes. The second movement, The Spill of Water , disengages itself from the first through its distinct contrast in tempo. Water moves fast, and when it splashes, it tends to run wildly. In this case, it happens to be bubbly water that gushes forth bodly... smashing across rocky shorlines. So, too, the music attempts to conjure such moods. At the end of this movement, a cello cadenza emerges, introducing an introspective type of melodicism. The third movement, The Poignancy of Memory, contains many silences as it tries to convey memory through fragmented remembrances much like often occur in our dream state. Progressing through several slowly building images, it gradually works itself into juxtaposition of musical images. Towards the movement's end, high harmonics are sounding in all four instruments while left hand pizzicato notes in the cello pluch the last remembrances of this central core. Almost imperceptibly, the viola assumes leadership as it dissolves into: The fourth movement, The Fluidity of Motion, which has mostly the viola, but also the cello, articulating lyrical statements against the sheets of sound conjured up by the two violins playing a flood of swirling figures, evokes a kind of static motion in spae. Here, the virtually imperceptible manner in which this hushed whisper continues incessantly, can suggest the potential fluidity with which movement may inch forward... Later into the fourth movement , two fairly extended solos by the second and then the first violins, lead to a kind of spontaneous dialogue among the four instrumentalists. Eventually, this musical conversation gets caught up in: The fifth movement's The Rush of Time, which opens with a hushed flurry of speed, precipitates the Finale. It generates, at first slowly, but then very swiftly, whole shifts of rhythmic fields that initially seem to conflict with one another. Ultimately, this use of 'psycho-rhythmics contributes to an on-rush of motion and time. Rhythmic changes are, at times, abruptly precipitated with but little or no preparation creating a kind of inevitability in forward thrust, while the movement rushes forward with a feeling of gradual and continuous acceleration. It gathers density as more and more notes are piled progressively upon successive beats. The attempt is to spark tension and ignite excitement by means of frenetic confrontations of dissimilitudes. Ultimately - with the help of time - these polarities centrifically spin out their own destinies with their accompanying fall-out and own inevitable resolutions.

SKU: HL.14028266

Cyril Scott was an English composer, writer, and poet. He was essentially a late romantic composer, whose style was at the same time strongly influenced by impressionism. His harmony was notably exotic. Scott wrote around four hundred works,which include two mature symphonies, three operas, three Piano concertos,concertos for Violin, Cello, Oboe and Harpsichord, several overtures, four oratorios, as well as a mass of chamber music.

While less appreciated during his lifetime, it is Scott's late works(written between 1950 and his death) that are the most individual, with their ever-shifting harmoniccolours and wayward inflections of phrase and mood,capturing perfectly the way the mind shifts, backwards and forwards, between reminiscence, regrets, and self-assertion.

Composed in 1961 for Flute and Piano and premiered by William Bennett and Margaret Norman on November 9 of that year, Sonata For Flute is perfect  example of the genius of Scott's late works.

SKU: CF.BF131

ISBN 9781491153765. UPC: 680160911264. 9 x 12 inches.

Inspired by Clarence Cameron White’s book The Violinist’s Daily Dozen, The Violinist’s Daily Sixteen is a collection of daily exercises compiled by Roland Vamos. Intended for student and professional violinists, the collection provides the performer with a variety of exercises for daily warm-ups. Mr. Vamos also focuses on developing dexterity and flexibility in the fingers and joints, the first and fourth fingers in particular. Each of the sixteen exercises is notated for each of the four strings, and Vamos recommends that the exercises be practiced as warm-ups, choosing a different string for each day of practice.Also included with the Daily Sixteen is a comprehensive set of studies for developing fluency with scales and arpeggios. Mr. Vamos’ unique methodology is to begin with major scales and arpeggios, followed by minor scales and arpeggios, all of which are notated in two, three and four octaves. Alternate fingers are provided, as well as a variety of slurred and mixed bowings using the three parts of the bow whenever feasible. It is a remarkably systematic approach to performing scales and arpeggios on the violin and will surely benefit students and professionals alike.
ForewordThis short hand-setting set of exercises was inspired by a book entitled The Violinist’s Daily Dozen, conceived by Clarence Cameron White, a prominent African-American violinist, composer and arranger who enjoyed the bulk of his career in the first half of the twentieth century.I have practiced this set of exercises since I was twelve years old. It has served me as a superb warm-up and hand setting tool. Over the years, I have found that there are some aspects of this warm-up routine that were not given sufficient attention or not addressed at all. Consequently, I have expanded the Daily Dozen to create a new work entitled The Violinist’s Daily Sixteen.I have also paid particular attention in this work as to how these exercises are to be practiced. In exercises one and two, I have indicated some notes to be played before the actual written exercises. This is to ensure that the fourth finger will be over the string in a position ready to strike even though it is not being used. Before playing exercises three, four, nine, ten, eleven and twelve, I have indicated silent fingers to be placed on the notes they would be playing if they were being used.I have replaced Mr. White’s grace notes with notes of specific value and have slowed down the exercises so that the first joint (the joint nearest the string) of each finger can move with flexibility and strength. At no time should the first joint buckle.In Mr. White’s version, the last exercise gave the first finger some very valuable backward extensions. In this exercise (number 14 in this book), I caution the student not to move the hand along with the first finger. The hand should remain in position while the first finger independently moves back and forth.It became obvious to me that if the first finger were given the opportunity to develop the dexterity that Mr. White’s twelfth exercise emphasizes, the fourth finger could benefit from an exercise that gives it a forward extension. Consequently, I added another exercise to create a Baker’s Dozen (thirteen).Several years later, I felt that the second and third fingers should also have an exercise to further develop their dexterity…hence exercise fourteen was added to create a “Vamos Dozen.”Because the first finger did not have sufficient practice in the development of the first joint in the original version, I have added two exercises to precede White’s fifth exercise. After re-working and re-numbering these exercises, I have come up with a total of sixteen exercises. It is my suggestion that these be practiced as a warm-up, choosing a different string each day.—Roland VamosEvanston, Illinois 2017 PrefaceScales are a means of teaching a person the fingerboard on his or her instrument. The fingers move across the strings and are required to make shifts, all in highly organized patterns. Scales and arpeggios are the foundation upon which our repertoire is built. Many scale books have been written; each one being organized in its own specific way. The Flesch Scale System has been a standard for many decades. It is very comprehensive and systematic. From the point of view of establishing similar patterns, it has one drawback: it is organized by starting with a major key, followed by its relative minor, going through the circle of fifths. I believe that it is more profitable to do only major scales with their arpeggios first, going up chromatically, and then follow them in a similar way with the minor scales. In using this approach, the similarities in fingerings between the various scales are more apparent. It is also profitable to have alternate fingerings whenever possible. My approach to scales and arpeggios includes a variety of slurred and mixed bowings using the three parts of the bow whenever feasible. These bowings are not all-inclusive. Whenever a particularly awkward bowing pattern is encountered in the repertoire, it can be practiced as an additional bowing variation in the scales and arpeggios.    I have chosen to introduce the three and four octave scales by teaching two octave scales across the strings in one position going up chromatically through seven positions; starting on the first, second, third, and finally fourth fingers in major and melodic minor.—Roland VamosEvanston, Illinois 2017.

SKU: HL.14008409

This is - so far - the earliest composition by Davies to be available for performance, and mighty interesting it is. Written while he was still a young student, it provides a candid glimpse of the thing that concerned him: how music could be both forward-moving in the classical Western sense (this is, after all, a piece for a wholly conventional medium) and repetitive in the manner of the Indian and medieval music in which he was interested. What results is a singular machine geared to an intermittent ostinato in the first violin. This movement for string quartet was first performed by the Arditti Quartet in May 1983, as part of the 40th Anniversary Gala concert of the Society for the Promotion of New Music at the Barbican Hall, London. Score (miniature). Duration c. 5mins.

SKU: DS.169424

A string quartet with optional third violin for viola. After a brief introduction the theme is presented in a straight forward ensemble harmonization with some altered pitches. The next section places the melody in the viola line with opposing lines in the violins. The ensuing section now gives the tune to the second violin with contrapuntal action in the other voices. A chorus section is now more articulated and active until the tune is handed to the first violin with ever more moving counterpoint in the other voices. The piece then ends in a strong statement.

Key of G, D.

SKU: PR.16400222S

UPC: 680160037841.

This work follows my Quartet No. 1 by five years. In terms of style and aesthetic aim, however, it seems light years away. Where the first work, a 28-minute, four-movement piece, took aim at cosmic conflicts and heroic resolutions, the present work is intended as a kind of divertissment. Harbor Music lasts a mere eleven minutes, is cast in a single movement with six sections, and should leave both performers and listeners with a feeling of good humor and affection.   The title comes from my experience as a guest in the magnificent city of Sydney, Australia. One of its most attractive features is its unique system of ferry boats: the city is laid out around a large, multi-channeled harbor, with destinations more easily approached by water than by land. Consequently, inhabitants of Sydney get around on small, people-friendly boats that come and go from the central docks at Circular Quay. During a week's visit in 1991, I must have boarded these boats at least a dozen times, always bound for a new location - the resort town of Manley, or the Zoo at Taronga Park, or the shopping district at Darling Harbour.   In casting about for a form for my second string quartet, a kind of loose rondo came to mind. Each new destination would be approached from the same starting-out point (although there are subtle variations in the repeating theme; it's always in a new key, and the texture is never the same). The result, I hope, is a sense of constant new information presented with introductory frames of a more familiar nature.   The embarkation theme, which begins the piece, is a sort of bi-tonal fanfare in which the violins are in G major and the viola and cello are in B-flat major. It is bold, eager, and forward-looking. The first voyage maintains this bi-tonality, beginning as a 9/8 due for second violin and viola in a kind of rocking motion -much as a boat produces when reaching the deeper water in the harbor. A sweet, nostalgic theme emerges over this rocking accompaniment. This music is developed somewhat, then transforms quickly into a much faster and lighter episode, filled with rising and falling scales (again, in differing keys). A scherzando interlude in short notes and changing meters provides contrast, and the episode ends with a reprise of the scales.   The second embarkation follows, this time in A major/C major. It leads quickly into a very warm and slow theme, in wide-leaping intervals for the viola. This section is interrupted twice by solo cadenzas for the cello, suggesting distant boat-horns in major thirds. The end of the episode becomes a transition, with boat-horns leading into the final appearance of the embarkation music, this time in trills and tremolos instead of sharply accented chords. The nostalgic theme of the first episode makes a final appearance, serving now as a coda. The rocking motion continues, in a lullaby fashion, leaving us drowsy and satisfied on our homeward journey.   Harbor Music was written for the Cavani Quartet, and is dedicated to Richard J. Bogomolny. Commissioned by his employees at First National Supermarkets as a gift, it represents a thank you from many of the people (including this composer) who have benefitted from his vision and generosity. An ardent advocate of chamber music (and a cellist himself), Mr. Bogomolny has for many years been Chairman of the Board of Chamber Music America. -- Dan Welcher.

SKU: SU.29120130

Premiered at Brigham Young University and comissioned by Duo Novae, Los Angeles composer Todd Mason wrote his Duo for Violin & Viola in 2023. Mason says: The Duo was a chance to explore the wide range of textures, harmonic worlds and emotions of just one violin & one viola. This piece spans many energy states with a kind of Bartókian chromaticism mixed with a bit of an East Indian feel in some sections. The work is in one-movement and keeps driving forward from the first notes to the end! This piece was recently admitted into the prestigious William Primrose International Archive at Brigham Young University.Violin & Viola Duration: 8' Composed: 2023 Published by: Todd Mason.