SKU: CF.BE10F

ISBN 9780825891175. UPC: 798408091170. 8.5 x 11 inches. Key: G major.

Commissioned by the Princeton-Columbia Electronic Music Center for Speculum Musicae in 1981. The first movement, In Preparation, is a study in tuning and intonation and is based on the open strings in perfectly tuned fifths, with the violins D string tuned 294 hertz. The first moments of the piece provide opportunity to tune to the tape part. (This tuning probably differs imperceptibly from a tempered tuning since the E string of the violin is only 1/33 of a semitone sharper then in a tempered system and the C strings of the viola and cello 1/33 of a semitone flatter.) Most subsequent pitches in the movement are either the open strings or major and minor thirds above and below the open strings. The minor thirds will be slightly sharp with respect to equal tempered tuning about 15 cents or 1/6 of a semitone and the major thirds will be slightly flat about 14 cents, or one seventh of a semitone. Listen to the tape part as a guide. All harmonics in this movement are to be played as natural harmonics and open strings are to be used whenever possible. In the second movement, At a Distance, the tape part largely doubles selected pitches in the string parts and should be thought of as a backdrop rather then counterpart. In this and the remaining movements equal tempered tuning is used though it will probably not be necessary to retune the instruments for this reason alone. The third movement, In Practice, is a study in modes of performance particularly with respect to rhythmic rigidity and flexibility. While the tape part may seem to bend and sway a great deal, the string parts are to be played with as much rhythmic precision as possible. At many points it may be necessary to delay or anticipate beats in order to coincide with the arrival of beats in the tape part, though in general the quarter equals 120 is accurate. In the fourth movement, In Distinction, different kinds of musical conceptions are counter-pointed and counter-posed. Here the beat is quite accurate although the notation of the synthetic saxophone part is only approximate. All the tape parts are based on computer reprocessed violin except for parts of the fourth movement in which synthetic saxophone is used. The tape part was synthesized on the IBM 3033 and 3081 computers at Princeton University and converted at the Winham Laboratory. The violin source was performed by Cyrus Stevens.
Commissioned by the Princeton-Columbia Electronic Music Center for Speculum Musicae in 1981. The first movement, In Preparation, is a study in tuning and intonation and is based on the open strings in perfectly tuned fifths, with the violinas D string tuned 294 hertz. The first moments of the piece provide opportunity to tune to the tape part. (This tuning probably differs imperceptibly from a tempered tuning since the E string of the violin is only 1/33 of a semitone sharper then in a tempered system and the C strings of the viola and acello 1/33 of a semitone flatter.) Most subsequent pitches in the movement are either the open strings or major and minor thirds above and below the open strings. The minor thirds will be slightly sharp with respect to equal tempered tuning about 15 cents or 1/6 of a semitone and the major thirds will be slightly flat about 14 cents, or one seventh of a semitone. Listen to the tape part as a guide. All harmonics in this movement are to be played as natural harmonics and open strings are to be used whenever possible. In the second movement, At a Distance, the tape part largely doubles selected pitches in the string parts and should be thought of as a backdrop rather then counterpart. In this and the remaining movements equal tempered tuning is used though it will probably not be necessary to retune the instruments for this reason alone. The third movement, In Practice, is a study in modes of performance particularly with respect to rhythmic rigidity and flexibility. While the tape part may seem to bend and sway a great deal, the string parts are to be played with as much rhythmic precision as possible. At many points it may be necessary to delay or anticipate beats in order to coincide with the arrival of beats in the tape part, though in general the quarter equals 120 is accurate. In the fourth movement, In Distinction, different kinds of musical conceptions are counter-pointed and counter-posed. Here the beat is quite accurate although the notation of the synthetic saxophone part is only approximate. All the tape parts are based on computer reprocessed violin except for parts of the fourth movement in which synthetic saxophone is used. The tape part was synthesized on the IBM 3033 and 3081 computers at Princeton University and converted at the Winham Laboratory. The violin source was performed by Cyrus Stevens.
Commissioned by the Princeton-Columbia Electronic Music Center for Speculum Musicae in 1981. The first movement, In Preparation, is a study in tuning and intonation and is based on the open strings in perfectly tuned fifths, with the violin's D string tuned 294 hertz. The first moments of the piece provide opportunity to tune to the tape part. (This tuning probably differs imperceptibly from a tempered tuning since the E string of the violin is only 1/33 of a semitone sharper then in a tempered system and the C strings of the viola and 'cello 1/33 of a semitone flatter.) Most subsequent pitches in the movement are either the open strings or major and minor thirds above and below the open strings. The minor thirds will be slightly sharp with respect to equal tempered tuning about 15 cents or 1/6 of a semitone and the major thirds will be slightly flat about 14 cents, or one seventh of a semitone. Listen to the tape part as a guide. All harmonics in this movement are to be played as natural harmonics and open strings are to be used whenever possible. In the second movement, At a Distance, the tape part largely doubles selected pitches in the string parts and should be thought of as a backdrop rather then counterpart. In this and the remaining movements equal tempered tuning is used though it will probably not be necessary to retune the instruments for this reason alone. The third movement, In Practice, is a study in modes of performance particularly with respect to rhythmic rigidity and flexibility. While the tape part may seem to bend and sway a great deal, the string parts are to be played with as much rhythmic precision as possible. At many points it may be necessary to delay or anticipate beats in order to coincide with the arrival of beats in the tape part, though in general the quarter equals 120 is accurate. In the fourth movement, In Distinction, different kinds of musical conceptions are counter-pointed and counter-posed. Here the beat is quite accurate although the notation of the synthetic saxophone part is only approximate. All the tape parts are based on computer reprocessed violin except for parts of the fourth movement in which synthetic saxophone is used. The tape part was synthesized on the IBM 3033 and 3081 computers at Princeton University and converted at the Winham Laboratory. The violin source was performed by Cyrus Stevens.
Commissioned by the Princeton-Columbia Electronic Music Center for SpeculumMusicae in 1981.The first movement, In Preparation, is a study in tuning and intonation and isbased on the open strings in perfectly tuned fifths, with the violin’s D stringtuned 294 hertz. The first moments of the piece provide opportunity to tuneto the tape part. (This tuning probably differs imperceptibly from a temperedtuning since the E string of the violin is only 1/33 of a semitone sharper then ina tempered system and the C strings of the viola and ‘cello 1/33 of a semitoneflatter.) Most subsequent pitches in the movement are either the open stringsor major and minor thirds above and below the open strings. The minor thirdswill be slightly sharp with respect to equal tempered tuning about 15 cents or1/6 of a semitone and the major thirds will be slightly flat about 14 cents, or oneseventh of a semitone. Listen to the tape part as a guide. All harmonics in thismovement are to be played as natural harmonics and open strings are to be usedwhenever possible.In the second movement, At a Distance, the tape part largely doubles selectedpitches in the string parts and should be thought of as a backdrop rather thencounterpart. In this and the remaining movements equal tempered tuning is usedthough it will probably not be necessary to retune the instruments for this reasonalone.The third movement, In Practice, is a study in modes of performance particularlywith respect to rhythmic rigidity and flexibility. While the tape part may seemto bend and sway a great deal, the string parts are to be played with as muchrhythmic precision as possible. At many points it may be necessary to delay oranticipate beats in order to coincide with the arrival of beats in the tape part,though in general the quarter equals 120 is accurate.In the fourth movement, In Distinction, different kinds of musical conceptions arecounter-pointed and counter-posed. Here the beat is quite accurate although thenotation of the synthetic saxophone part is only approximate.All the tape parts are based on computer reprocessed violin except for parts ofthe fourth movement in which synthetic saxophone is used. The tape part wassynthesized on the IBM 3033 and 3081 computers at Princeton University andconverted at the Winham Laboratory. The violin source was performed by CyrusStevens.

SKU: PR.114406980

UPC: 680160010806.

Shulamit Ran’s second string quartet, subtitled “Vistas,” occupies a large canvas that is cast in a traditional fourmovement mold, where the outer movements present, explore, and later return to the work’s principal musical materials, surrounding a slow movement and scherzo-type third movement with a trio. In addition to tempo-based titles, the individual movements have subtitles that are evocative of each movement’s character, as follows: I. Concentric: from the inside out II. Stasis III. Flashes IV. Vistas.
My second string quartet, “Vistas”, is a work cast in a traditional four-movement formal mold, with the outer movements, presenting and later returning to the work’s principal musical materials, surrounding a slow movement and a scherzo-type third movement.While the four movements’ “proper” names -- Maestoso con forza, Lento, Scherzo impetuoso, and Introduzione; Maestoso e grande – give some indication of the general character of the individual movements, I have also subtitled, less formally, each movement as follows:  1) Concentric:  from the inside out  2)  Stasis  3) Flashes  4) Vista.  The images evoked by these titles tell one, I think, a bit more about the inner workings of the quartet.In the first movement, a prominently presented opening pitch (E) reveals itself, as the movement unfolds, to be a center of gravity from which ever-growing cycles of activity gradually evolve.  While various important themes come into being as the movement progresses, their impact on the listener has, I believe, a great deal to do with their juxtaposition and relationship to the initial central point of gravity.Stasis is, as the name implies, a movement where activity seems, at times, almost suspended.  Being also, as Webster’s Dictionary reminds us, “a state of static balance and equilibrium among opposing tendencies or forces,” it develops various materials, including ones from the first movement, without bringing them to points of resolution.Flashes is short and very fast, evoking in my mind the quick shimmer of fireflies, a “sudden burst of light”, but also a “brief time”.  Perhaps, even, a “smile”?Finally, the last movement, Vista, is not only “a view or outlook”, but also “a comprehensive mental view of a series of remembered or anticipated events.”  After a brief recall of the opening of the second movement, this movement brings back all the important themes of the first movement in their original order.  But just as going back can never really mean going back in time, the movement is much more than recapitulatory.  By cutting through previously transitory passages and presenting the main ideas in a fashion more direct yet more evolved, it also sheds new light on earlier events, offering a retrospective, synoptic view of the first movement as it brings to culmination the work as a whole. “Vistas” was commissioned by C. Geraldine Freund for the Taneyev String Quartet of what was then Leningrad.  It was the first commission given in this country to a Soviet chamber ensemble since the 1985 cultural exchange accord between the Soviet Union and the United States.