For String Quartet and Pre-Recorded Performance CD. By John Adams. Boosey and Hawkes Chamber Music. BOOK W/CD. Published by Boosey and Hawkes.

String Quartet (Parts)

SKU: HL.14037707

Parts. Composed by Kevin Volans. Music Sales America. Contemporary. Softcover. Composed 2010. 80 pages. Chester Music #CH7452501. Published by Chester Music (HL.14037707).

ISBN 9781849385916. UPC: 884088578626. 8.25x11.75x0.262 inches.

Kevin Volans' String Quartet No. 9: Shiva Dances was commissioned by BBC Radio 3 and first performed by the Smith Quartet at the 2004 Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival.

Kevin Volans (the composer) notes on the piece:
In the past I have been interested in trying to go beyond historicism (1970s), beyond style(1980s) and beyond form (1990s) in my work. Looking back over the music of the twentiethcentury I was struck by the fact the nearlyall of it is extremely 'busy', almost cluttered. Italmost seemed that composers felt compelled to look industrious. In the new millennium Ithought it would be interesting to try and eliminate content. I also aspired to movingfrommusic (sound as art) to art (art as sound). This, of course, has already been done by a numberof composers (many from New York - Phil Niblock and La Monte Young, to name but two), butit was something I had never tried.AlthoughI found it annoying that the label 'minimalist' was given to my African-based work,and fearing this would make the label stick, I set out to write a piece which reflected my loveof minimal painting and architecture. The Japanesehave a term 'wabi' meaning 'voluntarypoverty' or 'emptiness' to describe their restrained minimal aesthetic, an aesthetic which,however, pays greatest attention to the quality of material and fine detail. I like to think thatthelack of excessive pitch material in this piece reflects a kind of voluntary poverty.When Shiva is portrayed dancing (as Nataraj) He is depicted in a circle of flames crushing asmall figure - the ego - underfoot.You get theimpression He dances on the spot, not movingaround at all. I like that.
The piece is dedicated to Pablo Pascual Cilleruelo.

Composer's notes: This piece came about in a rather unusual way. I had a dream in which a string quartet were playing some very beautiful music. I was exhorting them to 'play it like late Beethoven' When I woke up, I could not remember any themes or details of what they had been playing, but had an intense memory of the 'feeling' of the music, which was soft, sensual and muted, and I immediately sat down to write a string quartet. What began to emerge was nothing like Beethoven at all, and very early into the writing I had a strong vision of some people dancing a formal and intense series of dances in a village in a very dry and hot landscape - the Australian outback or Africa maybe. The dances were very moving, with an inward, ritualistic quality and they obviously had great meaning for the people performing them. Geoffrey Burgon

String Quartet

SKU: BT.EMBZ14109

Für Anfänger (Erste Lage). By Lajos Vigh. By Arpad Pejtsik. EMB Music for Beginners. Educational Tool. Book Only. Composed 1997. 92 pages. Editio Musica Budapest #EMBZ14109. Published by Editio Musica Budapest (BT.EMBZ14109).

English-German-Hungarian.

In the string quartets published in the series 'Music for Beginners', every part can be played in the first position. When a viola is not available it may be replaced by a third violin: the part is provided in both alto and treble clef versions in this publication. The volume begins with the characteristic Viennese classical dances (contredanse, Ländler, minuet), which can be played even after just one or two years' of diligent instrumental study. These are followed by more extensive string quartets with several movements, which prepare students for playing more serious chamber music. The works are published in score form as well as parts, to make it easier to navigate among themusical material and to assist with the work of rehearsal.