String Quartet

SKU: FG.55011-553-8

Allerheiligentag III. Composed by Jyrki Linjama. Classical. Score and Parts. Fennica Gehrman #55011-553-8. Published by Fennica Gehrman (FG.55011-553-8).

Jyrki Linjama's second string quartet (2018) is subtitled Allerheiligentag III. The material for the Allerheiligentag cycle is a Finnish folk chorale for All Saints' Day (no. 146 in the Finnish Hymn Book). The first work in the cycle is a string trio (2007), the second a piece for orchestra (2009), and the fourth and fifth are solo works for viola da gamba and violin.The composer tells: The choice of topic and material for the string trio was originally prompted by the venue at which it was to be premiered: the old church on the island of Seili (Sjalo). The bleak history of the island's leper and mental hospital evoked images of suffering and death. I got so attached to the harsh and beautiful melody that it began to generate a whole cycle. The string quartet is in three movements (slow-quick-slow) tensed in different ways by contrasts. The first movement has both swinging softness and cutting sharpness, the Scherzo the wildness of a dance of death and lyricism, and the finale the irrevocability of a funeral march and tender melodiousness.

Contralto, Baroque string quartet (contralto(2 glass crystals).2vn.va da gamba.vc)

SKU: HL.49045309

Score and Parts. Composed by Joseph Schwantner. This edition: Folder. Sheet music. Edition Schott. Softcover. Composed 2012. 216 pages. Duration 20'. Schott Music #ED31320. Published by Schott Music (HL.49045309).

ISBN 9781495082443. UPC: 888680656577. 9.0x12.0x0.859 inches. English.

I was immediately drawn to the quartet's poignant, intimate and expressive sound world, the evocative and hauntingly beautiful voice of contralto Karen Clark and the poetry of Henry David Thoreau whose words so thoroughly capture the transcendental spirit of nineteenth century New England life. Living and working in the high hills of rural New Hampshire provided a synergy of poetry and music that formed an ideal union to help frame the mood, character and direction of this work. Joseph Schwantner.