String Quartet No.1 Op.14 in four movements by British composer Benjamin Frankel composed in 1944. These are the parts arranged for two Violins Viola and Cello. Frankel's compositions were largely neglected following his death. After BBC Radio 3 featured him as their 'Composer of the Week' and the German record company CPO partnered with the Australian Broadcasting Company to record his entire works his oeuvre was reassessed to great acclaim.

Ed Hughes' Quartets For Liz for String Quartet. Score and parts.This work was composed in 2012 and comprises of 15 short movements.Quartets For Liz was recorded by Susanne Stanzeleit Marina Gillam (Violins) Gustav Carksson (Viola) and Andrew Fuller (Cello) at St. Silas Church Kentish Town on 25 July 2012. See www.edhughes.org.uk for recording.

Chaconne. Par LERDAHL FRED. Chaconne (2016), for string quartet, was commissioned by the Daedalus Quartet to celebrate its 15th anniversary. The commission was supported by New Music USA, made possible by annual program support and/or endowment gifts from Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Helen F. Whitaker Fund, and Aaron Copland Fund for Music. My music has a substantial history with Daedalus. I composed the Third String Quartet (2008) for them, and subsequently they performed my three string quartets on several occasions and recorded them brilliantly on Bridge Records (Bridge 9352: Music of Fred Lerdahl, vol. 3). Chaconne is in one movement lasting 19 minutes. It is effectively my fourth string quartet. Quartets 1-3 form a unified cycle lasting 70 minutes. When I finished the cycle, I thought I would never write again for the medium; yet I could not resist the opportunity of working again with Daedalus. The issue was how to compose another string quartet unrelated to the earlier cycle. The solution came from my solo cello piece There and Back Again (2010), which was based on a four-bar variation pattern from a 17th-century chaconne. Unlike the asymmetrical phrases and expanding variations of much of my music, the chaconne form requires symmetrical phrases and strictly periodic variations. I wished to work again with these symmetries but on a larger scale. Chaconne also differs in character and expression from the three-quartet cycle. The cycle is inward and intense, a kind of psychological excavation. Chaconne is, for the most part, transparent and playful. Many of its textures emerge from little canons, not completely unlike the rounds that children sing. Any composer who writes in chaconne form (one thinks above all of the last movement of Bach’s D minor violin partita and the finale of Brahms’s Fourth Symphony) is confronted with the challenge of how to create a larger form out of a constantly repeating pattern. My Chaconne grows from paired antecedent-consequent phrases, each variation lasting eight bars. The 50 variations group into three large rotations, forming three arcs of tension and relaxation, with subtle parallel connections across the rotations. Notwithstanding my attraction to chaconne form, I purposefully disguised its symmetries and periodicities in order to build an overall dramatic shape. Fred Lerdahl/ Répertoire / Quatuor à Cordes

10 Fugues For String Quartet Vol. 2-The idea for these arrangements came to me whilst listening to the Hagen Quartet's beautiful recording of the fugues that form part of Haydn's 'Sun Quartets' Op. 20. The spirit and influence of J.S. Bach in particular his Well Tempered Clavier Book II courses through these three miraculous Haydn fugues. Like the viol consort the string quartet suits this kind of composition (the fugue) with all four instruments sufficiently similar in character to each other to match the extraordinary unity and economy of the counterpoint. A string quartet playing Bach fugues is a good example of a harmonious relationship between form andcontent: just as there is a unifying principle behind the construction of the four string instruments so there is (usually) a single theme or subject that unifies the construction of a four-part fugue. Thus the form enacts the content telling you something about the text and message within. Apart from Haydn's and a handful of other composers' wondrous creations there's little fugal writing for string quartet at least in comparison with the abundance of other forms. This was another reason to make these arrangements. The quartet offers a melodic independence impossible to achieve on a single instrument. And I believe the technical and interpretative challenges posed by this repertoire – lightness of sound and rhythmic fluidity for example - will be very valuable to quartets seeking the holy grail: a unified sound. Perhaps the simplest and most compelling reason for this work is that I just love this music more than I can say. These dazzling pieces mostly fast bright and in major keys show Bach at his most playful funny and mischievous composing for an instrument rarely associated with these qualities. And so I'm very happy to offer string quartets these little know fugues written by my favourite composer - a violinist and violist himself but above all a master

String Quartet No.4 by Poul Ruders dating from 2012. Programme Note: It might be of interest for some to note that a gap of only six months separates the writing of my second and third quartets (1979) but a 33 year interval stands between the third and the present piece String Quartet No. 4.Which is in five movements and is about nothing but itself. The first movement 'Adagio - Presto alla breve - Adagio' is an overture of sorts lifting the lid as it were on the odd bit of what happens later on in the other movements.A portal into: The second movement 'Vivo scherzando' which is justthat: a short (2 minutes only) fast and jocular piece leading up to the next movement: 'Adagio sognante' a slow and hushed dream-world paving the way for the pièce de resistance of the entire quartet: 'Presto alla breve' a ferociously fast tour de force for the four players who with that one under their belts can lean back a little (but only a little) and put the whole thing gently to bed in the fifth and final movement: a simple 'Adagio'. Off the record: my first string quartet (1972) has been withdrawn and is no more a fact that renders the numbering of the subsequent quartets a matter of personal conviction. Poul Ruders November 2012

Contemporary String Quartet Repertoire For Flourishing Ensembles-The Explore series is part of three progressive collections of contemporary string quartet repertoire from leading composers to encourage and facilitate the development of ensemble playing. Compiled and edited by Liz Partridge each volume contains graded works commissioned especially for this series designed for quartets formed of players of similar ability. Featuring a mixture of musical styles and genres each piece contains different elements and techniques to consolidate and enhance the players’ skills as soloists and as ensemble members. An accompanying CD provides demonstration recordings of all included pieces. Minus-one tracks are available to downloadonline to allow for individual practice between rehearsals. Explore Series: Contemporary string quartet repertoire for flourishing ensembles. Music for players of grade 4-5 standard with some ensemble playing experience. Featuring expanded key selections more complex rhythms and simple introductions to extended techniques.

For String Quartet Volume 1-The idea for these arrangements came to me whilst listening to the Hagen Quartet's beautiful recording of the fugues that form part of Haydn's 'Sun Quartets' Op. 20. The spirit and influence of J.S. Bach in particular his Well Tempered Clavier Book II courses through these three miraculous Haydn fugues. Like the viol consort the string quartet suits this kind of composition (the fugue) with all four instruments sufficiently similar in character to each other to match the extraordinary unity and economy of the counterpoint. A string quartet playing Bach fugues is a good example of a harmonious relationship between form andcontent: just as there is a unifying principle behind the construction of the four string instruments so there is (usually) a single theme or subject that unifies the construction of a four-part fugue. Thus the form enacts the content telling yousomething about the text and message within. Apart from Haydn's and a handful of other composers' wondrous creations there's little fugal writing for string quartet at least in comparison with the abundance of other forms. This was another reason to make these arrangements. The quartet offers a melodic independence impossible to achieve on a single instrument. And I believe the technical and interpretative challenges posed by this repertoire – lightness of sound and rhythmic fluidity for example - willbe very valuable to quartets seeking the holy grail: a unified sound. Perhaps the simplest and most compelling reason for this work is that I just love this music more than I can say. These dazzling pieces mostly fast bright and in major keys show Bach at his most playful funny and mischievous composing for an instrument rarely associated with these qualities. And so I'm very happy to offer string quartets these little know fugues written by my favourite composer - a violinist and violist himself but above all a