For piano and string quartet. Commissioned by The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the Virginia International Arts Festival. Premiered by Andre Michel Schub and the Miami String Quartet in 2001 at the Virginia International Arts Festival. West Coast premiere Chamber Music Northwest 2002. New York premiere at Lincoln Center April 2003.

(with optional 3rd Violin part in place of Viola)-This 'Air' comes from Bach?s Orchestral Suite No.3 in D major. Its popular title 'Air on the G String' is from an arrangement for violin and piano by the great German violinist August Wilhelmj who played most of the melody notes on the ?G? string of the violin. This arrangement for string quartet will be an ideal piece for use during wedding services. Comes with optional 3rd Violin part in place of Viola.

Fragment of the string quartet Silent Walls-'Novelty of form selected modulations strange tone colours the use of completely unexpected rhythms' this is how Camille Saint-Saëns praised the debut work of a young colleague and continued: 'Above everything is a charm that surrounds the whole work and makes the mass of average listeners accept the most surprising audacities as something entirely natural.' The First Violin Sonata by Gabriel Fauré (1845 1924) was indeed an extraordinary composition which at the same time opened the way for the oeuvre of one of the most important French composers in the late 19th century and early 20th century: It was particularly with songs and pianomusic that he could win the heart of the audience. In the 1870s Fauré wrote three songs which were originally not meant to be a unity but were later assembled under opus number 7. The first song is 'Après Un Rêve' a romantic rapturous song which like a 'Song Without Words' by Mendelssohn is perfect for making music with an accompanied solo instrument.

Cheryl Frances-Hoad's The Dreams That Fly from Me for solo String Quartet and String Orchestra. Score. 'The Dreams That Fly From Me is a ten minute work for solo string quartet and string orchestra. It is in two movements (one slow one fast) that are played without a break. I spent ten years at the Yehudi Menuhin School (a specialist music school for string and piano) growing up so this piece cannot help but be strongly influenced by the music I played in the school orchestra during this time. In particular the work is influenced by Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro Strauss’s Metamorphosen (fortwenty-three solo strings) and Tippett’s Concerto for Double String Orchestra although the harmonic language of the piece (which is essentially very jazzy) helps to obscure these musical references. In terms of extra musical inspiration the work was inspired by a poem by Ivan Goll called Bloodhound which includes the lines “Catch the dreams that fly off from me.... And savage the ankles of my fleeting angel” I was inspired by the idea of a “fleeting angel” which at a time when I had been having difficulties composing seemed very poignant: the angel of the poem seemed to be a poetic representation of my inspiration. The Dreams That Fly From Me was premiered by the Szymanowsky Quartet and the Northern Sinfonia (Bradley Creswick director) at Hovingham Hall on the 28th July 2013 as part of the 2013 Ryedale Festival.' - Cheryl Frances-Hoad

from String Quartet #2 in D major, arranged for Cello and Piano / Violoncelle Et Piano

Sir Edward Elgar was born in Worcester in 1857. Until the outstanding success of the 'Enigma' Variations in 1899 he was considered a 'provincial' composer - and a largely self taught one at that.In the earlier part of Elgar's career as a composer he wrote several short pieces which became very popular indeed. Chanson de nuit is one such the second of a pair (Chanson de Matin the other being) which carried his name far and wide before his larger orchestra works appeared. It was published in several versions at once: for string orchestra for small orchestra for violin and piano and so on - so it is almost impossible to say with any degree of certainty which was theoriginal version. This arrangement makes a useful addition to the repertoire for string quartet.