SKU: PR.11441345S
UPC: 680160608829. 8.5 x 11 inches.
BACH-SHARDS was commissioned by the Brentano String Quartet as part of their Art of the Fugue companion-piece project. Ran deliberately stays within the realm of Bach-like vocabulary, altering syntax in ways that add up to something slightly different from the anticipated sum of the parts. The work builds up to a climax that makes the entry point into Bach’s Contrapunctus X seem thoroughly natural.While composing Bach-Shards I found myself gravitating, intuitively and gradually, toward a dual goal. First, though the tension and dissonance inherent in certain moments of Bach’s own maze-like contrapuntal structures could quite easily and naturally lead one into a pungent contemporary terrain, I opted not to stray outside the realm of Bach-like materials and harmonic language. Instead, it was my hope to alter their relationships and context in ways that add up to a something that’s slightly different than the anticipated sum of the parts. A mildly deconstructed Bach, if you will. The other important challenge I set for myself was building up the latter, toccata-like portion of Bach-Shards in a way that would make the entry point of the fugue which it precedes, Contrapunctus X, seem thoroughly natural. It was my intent to have the first fugal entrance feel like a huge and much welcome release of the energy created by my Prelude’s penultimate stretch, with its bravura figurations elaborating on an insistent dominant pedal point.
SKU: BR.EB-9243
ISBN 9790004185438. 9 x 12 inches.
It was the practice of Khoomii (throat singing) - following several workshops with Michael Ormiston - that first attracted me to Tuvan music. Composing this Songbook, the first in a series commissioned by the Ligeti Quartet, I took the chance to reflect on compositional questions around transcription and arrangement of existing music, and frequently found myself asking: where is the boundary between the source material and the new substance? Of course the relationship varies from piece to piece, and moment to moment: sometimes we seem to glimpse the pure source, but most of the time there are differing degrees of distance, working towards or away from it. This new version for string orchestra corresponds closely to the original quartet version, with an additional part for double basses.The traditional Tuvan songs that I have transcribed and recomposed are all known to me from the Ay Kherel CD The Music of Tuva: Throat Singing and Instruments from Central Asia (2004, Arc Music). According to the notes from that CD, this is what the songs are about:1. Dyngylday: If you have come on a horse in blue, it doesn't mean that you are the best. My heart tells me something else: my sweetheart doesn't have such a beautiful horse, but he is my darling.An alternative interpretation from Alash Ensemble (alashensemble.com): The word dyngylday is a nonsense term with no translation. The song makes good-humored fun of somebody for being a good-for-nothing.2. Eki Attar (The Best Steeds): The horse is the basis of our life. It is a magic creature. Even its step is full of music and rhythm. You may not be a horse rider, but when you hear this song you will always remember horses.3. Kuda Yry: This wedding song glorifies the strength of the groom and the beauty of his Horse.4. Ezir-Kara ('Black Eagle'): This was the name of a horse, who became a legend through his remarkable strength and speed.It is not just overtones that abound here: there are galloping rhythms aplenty, and though I am no horse rider I tried to keep the horses galloping in my imagination while composing these pieces.Christian Mason (with quotes from Ay Kherel and Alash Ensemble)World premiere of the original version: London/UK, May 10, 2016, World premiere of the string orchestra version: Clermont-Ferrand/France, October 8, 2020.
SKU: BR.EB-9244
ISBN 9790004185445. 9 x 12 inches.
SKU: HL.49046188
ISBN 9781540051684. UPC: 888680938703. 9.0x12.0 inches.
When Cuarteto Casals approached me with the idea of illuminating Beethovens quartets anew, you can imagine the many thoughts and feelings that where going through my mind: what a joy, what a great honor What an intriguing head-scratcher! How can you possibly shine a new light on something that is already perfect? Weeks, months went by in search of a common ground between the Master and myself until I finally found it in the realization that a word lays hidden in the St. Johns hymn that gave musical notes their original name: Re, Sol, Ut, Io (D, G, C, B in English music notation) Perfect! “Resolutio†in Latin means both the resolution of aproblem and the re-solution: a re-blend of many elements that will eventually coagulate to make something new. There was finally themelodic and a rhythmical canvas for my piece. On this canvas I wrote the story of a funny little contest, played on a sunny Mediterranean square, between street musicians and Cuarteto Casals just minutes before they are about to go on stage to perform Beethovens Harp Quartet. After all the characters, each in his own way, had the chance to tell their story, a gentle rain starts to fall, dissolving (Re-solving) again the music sheet to eventually leave us with just a white piece of paper for somebody else to continue the Work. (Lucio Franco Amanti).
SKU: HL.49033269
ISBN 9790001136853. UPC: 884088567088. 9.0x12.0x0.092 inches.
My 2nd string quartet is one single slow movement. The piece does not directly reflect Joseph Haydn's Seven Last Words but I would not have been able to write it without knowing that work. The movements in Haydn's quartets (except the final earthquake) are slow movements of shocking forcefulness. What makes the work even more unsettling for me is the relaxed and cheerful acceptance of death (the 'smile' of the A major pizzicato thirds!). When I made myself familiar with the subject matter of crucifixion I discovered that terms like 'walking' and 'the last walk' were most important to me. My piece starts at the final stage of this experience. It contains a number of lost sounds, phrases of futility which come from nowhere and lead to nowhere. The horrifying rubbing and sanding of skin and wood become the 'theme' of the piece which is combined with tonal, choral-like melodies. I am interested in how to make noises no longer symbolize desolation and tonal phrases no longer represent confidence.- Jorg Widmann.
SKU: AY.CM3224PM
ISBN 9790543573703.
The great American philosopher William James talks about a credit system of truth in which we take for granted the knowledge of the world around us. For instance as a child you learn what a car is, what it looks like, what it does, what its made of, etc. So, every time you see a car you do not need to re examine all these aspects,you use a credit of truth to know about all cars what you learned about the first. I found this fascinating and made it a challenge for myself to translate this sentiment into music. In my string quartet a melody is repeated many times but each time its reality is a bit different, you think you know this melody at one point but the music around it and its structure are always mutated a bit to challenge your credit system of truth. Gene Pritsker.
SKU: BO.B.2678
English comments: Death and the Maiden.This is a Catalan folk song that captivated me the very first time I heard it. In 1974 I decided to indulge myself by using this song for a composition for violin and string orchestra (and solo violin with a quartet). The popular theme takes the form of a long violin solo based on triplets with a background of soft harmonies played by the rest of the musicians. --Jordi CervelloComentarios del Espanol:La muerte y la doncella. Se trata de una melodia popular catalana que desde su primer momento me cautivo. Fue en 1974 cuando me decidi a recrearme con ella a traves de una composicion para violin y orquesta de cuerda (tambien violin solista con cuarteto). El tema popular encuadra un largo solo del solista a base de tresillos inspirados en el Coral-Preludio de una cantata de J. S. Bach. --Jordi Cervello.
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