SKU: PR.164002720

UPC: 680160573042. 8.5 x 11 inches.

My third quartet is laid out in a three-movement structure, with each movement based on an early, middle, and late work of the great American impressionist painter Mary Cassatt. Although the movements are separate, with full-stop endings, the music is connected by a common scale-form, derived from the name MARY CASSATT, and by a recurring theme that introduces all three movements. I see this theme as Mary's Theme, a personality that stays intact while undergoing gradual change.   I The Bacchante (1876) [Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]   The painting shows a young girl of Italian or Spanish origin, playing a small pair of cymbals. Since Cassatt was trying very hard to fit in at the French Academy at the time, she painted a lot of these subjects, which were considered typical and universal. The style of the painting doesn't yet show Cassatt's originality, except perhaps for certain details in the face. Accordingly the music for this movement is Spanish/Italian, in a similar period-style but using the musical signature described above. The music begins with Mary's Theme, ruminative and slow, then abruptly changes to an alla Spagnola-type fast 3/4 - 6/8 meter. It evokes the Spanish-influenced music of Ravel and Falla.   Midway through, there's an accompanied recitative for the viola, which figures large in this particular movement, then back to a truncated recapitulation of the fast music. The overall feeling is of a well-made, rather conventional movement in a contemporary Spanish/Italian style. Cassatt's painting, too, is rather conventional.   II At the Opera (1880) [Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts]   This painting is one of Cassatt's most well known works, and it hangs in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The painting shows a woman alone in a box at the opera house, completely dressed (including gloves) and looking through opera glasses at someone or something that is NOT on the stage. Across the auditorium from her, but exactly at eye level, is a gentleman with opera glasses intently watching her - though it is not him that she's looking at. It's an intriguing picture.   This movement is far less conventional than the first movement, as the painting is far less conventional. The music begins with a rapid, Shostakovich-type mini-overture lasting less than a minute, based on Mary's Theme. My conjecture is that the woman in the painting has arrived late to the opera, busily stumbling into her box. What happens next is a kind of collage, a kind of surrealistic overlaying of two different elements: the foreground music, at first is a direct quotation of Soldier's Chorus from Gounod's FAUST (an opera Cassatt would certainly have heard in the brand-new Paris Opera House at that time), played by Violin II, Viola, and Cello. This music is played sul ponticello in the melody and col legno in the marching accompaniment. On top of this, the first violin hovers at first on a high harmonic, then descends into a slow melody, completely separate from the Gounod. It's as if the woman in the painting is hearing the opera onstage but is not really interested in it. Then the cello joins the first violin in a kind of love-duet (just the two of them, at first). This music isn't at all Gounod-derived; it's entirely from the same scale patterns as the first movement and derives from Mary's Theme and its scale. The music stays in a kind of dichotomy feeling, usually three-against-one, until the end of the movement, when another Gounod melody, Valentin's aria Avant de quitter ce lieux reappears in a kind of coda for all four players. It ends atmospherically and emotionally disconnected, however. The overall feeling is a kind of schizophrenic, opera-inspired dream.   III Young Woman in Green, Outdoors in the Sun (1909) [Worcester Art Museum, Massachusetts]   The painting, one of Cassatt's last, is very simple: just a figure, looking sideways out of the picture. The colors are pastel and yet bold - and the woman is likewise very self-assured and not in the least demure. It is eight minutes long, and is all about melody - three melodies, to be exact (Young Woman, Green, and Sunlight). No angst, no choppy rhythms, just ever-unfolding melody and lush harmonies. I quote one other French composer here, too: Debussy's song Green, from Ariettes Oubliees. 1909 would have been Debussy's heyday in Paris, and it makes perfect sense musically as well as visually to do this.   Mary Cassatt lived her last several years in near-total blindness, and as she lost visual acuity, her work became less sharply defined - something akin to late water lilies of Monet, who suffered similar vision loss. My idea of making this movement entirely melodic was compounded by having each of the three melodies appear twice, once in a pure form, and the second time in a more diffuse setting. This makes an interesting two ways form: A-B-C-A1-B1-C1.   String Quartet No.3 (Cassatt) is dedicated, with great affection and respect, to the Cassatt String Quartet, whose members have dedicated themselves in large measure to the furthering of the contemporary repertoire for quartet.

SKU: BT.DHP-1115250-140

9x12 inches. English-German-French-Dutch.

The Soldier’s Wife is a short and simple piece commissioned by the Singapore Ministry of Education. It was originally intended as a compulsory piece for the 2012 Singapore Youth Festival. Because many school bands in Singapore are incomplete, the composer was specifically asked to create a work that could equally be played by a limited ensemble—which explains various doubled and optional parts. The warm tones of a melodic passage open this short work: the wife of the wooden soldier sings a kind of lullaby. This lyrical section is followed by a more powerful part which is, however, based on the same melodic material. The rhythm, syncopated at times, infuses thissection with a particular energy. The harmony, too, has some surprising turns—and we must never lose sight of the restrictions imposed by the limited level of difficulty of the piece. Although the work begins softly and sweetly, much more ‘feminine energy’ is projected by the close.

The Soldier’s Wife is een kort en eenvoudig werkje dat is geschreven in opdracht van het Singaporese ministerie van Onderwijs. Het was aanvankelijk bedoeld als verplicht werk voor het Singapore Youth Festival 2012. Omdat veelschoolorkesten in Singapore een onvolledige bezetting hebben, kreeg de componist het nadrukkelijke verzoek om het werk zo vorm te geven dat het ook met een beperkt ensemble uitgevoerd kan worden: dat verklaart een aantal verdubbelingenen instrumenten ad libitum.Een warme, melodische passage opent dit korte werkje: de vrouw van het - houten - soldaatje zingt als het ware een wiegeliedje. Nadat dit lyrische deel is afgerond, volgt een energieker gedeeltedat qua melodisch materiaal op dezelfde bouwstenen is gebaseerd. De hier en daar gesyncopeerde ritmiek verleent dit deel een bijzondere energie, en ook harmonisch zijn er een paar verrassende wendingen - waarbij rekening is gehoudenmet de beperkingen die verbonden zijn aan werken voor dit muzikale niveau. Begon het werkje zacht en liefelijk, aan het slot is er heel wat meer ‘girl power’ voelbaar!

The Soldier’s Wife ist ein kurzes, einfaches Werk, das im Auftrag des Bildungsministeriums von Singapur geschrieben wurde. Es war zunächst als Pflichtstück für das Singapurer Jugendfestival 2012 gedacht. Da viele Schulblasorchester in Singapur unvollständig besetzt sind, bat man den Komponisten ausdrücklich, das Werk so zu gestalten, dass es auch mit einem begrenzten Ensemble gespielt werden könne: Dies erklärt einige Verdopplungen und optionale Instrumente. Eine warm klingende, melodische Passage eröffnet dieses kurze Werk: Die Frau des - hölzernen- Soldaten singt eine Art Wiegenlied. Nach diesem lyrischen Abschnitt folgt ein kraftvollerer Teil, der aber aufdemselben melodischen Material aufbaut. Der hier und da synkopierte Rhythmus verleiht diesem Teil eine besondere Energie und auch harmonisch gibt es einige überraschende Wendungen - wobei immer an die auferlegten Beschränkungen durch den Schwierigkeitsgrad gedacht werden muss. Ist das Werk zu Beginn noch leise und lieblich, ist zum Schluss doch schon wesentlich mehr weibliche Energie“ spürbar...!

The Soldier’s Wife (L’épouse du soldat) est une pièce courte et simple commandée par le Ministère singapourien de l'Education. Cette œuvre a été initialement écrite comme pièce imposée pour le Festival de la Jeunesse se déroulant Singapour en 2012. Comme de nombreuses formations scolaires présentent quelques lacunes au niveau de certains pupitres, Jan van der Roost a été sollicité afin de composer une œuvre qui pourrait également être jouée par une formation incomplète - ce qui explique le doublement de certaines parties et les voix optionnelles.Cette œuvre concise débute par une chaleureuse et expressive mélodie : la femme du soldat chante une sorte deberceuse. Ce passage lyrique est suivi d’une partie plus puissante qui est, cependant, basée sur le même matériel thématique. Le rythme, parfois syncopé, insuffle cette partie de l’œuvre une énergie toute particulière. La trame harmonique, elle aussi, subit quelques surprenantes contorsions sans jamais dépasser les limites imposées par le degré de difficulté de la pièce. Cette composition commence doucement et gentiment, et se termine par un motif empreint d’un dynamisme singulièrement féminin.

“Guarda, è la moglie del soldato di legno”! All’inizio, canta una dolce ninnananna, che precede una sezione più potente dai ritmi sincopati e con sorprendenti cambiamenti di armonie. The Soldier’s Wife inizia in modo calmo e dolce per poi trovare un’energia tipicamente femminile verso il finale. The Soldier’s Wife è un brano breve e semplice, perfetto anche per formazioni a organico ridotto grazie alle parti raddoppiate e opzionali.

SKU: BT.DHP-1115250-010

9x12 inches. English-German-French-Dutch.

The Soldier's Wife is a short and simple piece commissioned by the Singapore Ministry of Education. It was originally intended as a compulsory piece for the 2012 Singapore Youth Festival. Because many school bands in Singapore areincomplete, the composer was specifically asked to create a work that could equally be played by a limited ensemble - which explains various doubled and optional parts.


The Soldier’s Wife is een kort en eenvoudig werkje dat is geschreven in opdracht van het Singaporese ministerie van Onderwijs. Het was aanvankelijk bedoeld als verplicht werk voor het Singapore Youth Festival 2012. Omdat veelschoolorkesten in Singapore een onvolledige bezetting hebben, kreeg de componist het nadrukkelijke verzoek om het werk zo vorm te geven dat het ook met een beperkt ensemble uitgevoerd kan worden: dat verklaart een aantal verdubbelingenen instrumenten ad libitum.Een warme, melodische passage opent dit korte werkje: de vrouw van het - houten - soldaatje zingt als het ware een wiegeliedje. Nadat dit lyrische deel is afgerond, volgt een energieker gedeeltedat qua melodisch materiaal op dezelfde bouwstenen is gebaseerd. De hier en daar gesyncopeerde ritmiek verleent dit deel een bijzondere energie, en ook harmonisch zijn er een paar verrassende wendingen - waarbij rekening is gehoudenmet de beperkingen die verbonden zijn aan werken voor dit muzikale niveau. Begon het werkje zacht en liefelijk, aan het slot is er heel wat meer ‘girl power’ voelbaar!

Sieh an hier haben wir die Frau des hölzernen Soldaten! Zu Beginn singt sie ein sanftes Wiegenlied, doch dann folgt ein kraftvollerer Abschnitt mit synkopierten Rhythmen und überraschenden harmonischen Wendungen. Ist dieses Werk, das auch vonunvollständig besetzten Blasorchestern gespielt werden kann, zu Beginn noch leise und lieblich, klingt zum Schluss doch schon wesentlich mehr weibliche Energie“ durch...!

« Regarde, c’est la femme du soldat de bois » ! Tout d’abord, elle chante une tendre berceuse. Vient ensuite une partie plus puissante, avec des rythmes syncopés et de surprenantes contorsions de la trame harmonique. Cette composition, qui peut êtrejouée par une formation incomplète, commence doucement et gentiment, et se termine par un motif empreint d’un dynamisme singulièrement féminin.

“Guarda, è la moglie del soldato di legno”! All’inizio, canta una dolce ninnananna, che precede una sezione più potente dai ritmi sincopati e con sorprendenti cambiamenti di armonie. The Soldier’s Wife inizia in modo calmo e dolce per poi trovare un’energia tipicamente femminile verso il finale. The Soldier’s Wife è un brano breve e semplice, perfetto anche per formazioni a organico ridotto grazie alle parti raddoppiate e opzionali.