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

Jouni Kaipainen's String Quartet No. 6 'The Terror Run' Op. 92. Commissioned by the BBC Radio for the Proms concerts 2010. Dedicated to the Meta4 Quartet. Parts available: WH31197A Programme note: My former experience in writing string quartets has made me used to the idea that a piece of mine in this genre lasts close to half an hour and consists of several movements with different characters. This time the commission clearly stated a duration of 12 minutes and this naturally brought about lots of thinking and orientating. Eventually I luckily found out that I actually can alter mybasic “string quartet philosophy” so that such a short piece became an existing option. In the music itself there is nothing very much to explain. The quartet is for the most part quite lively flowing music in fast tempi. In the very beginning there is something haunting in the atmosphere but soon joyful for the most part delicately light at times maybe also “dance-like” characters take over.  But in terms of dramaturgy   the music has a tendency to grow more weighty and harsh and these quasi-violent elements gradually threaten the sunny unproblematic flow. Closer to the end we come to a point where nothing is easy anymore. This brings about a slow section of quite different nature and after that the former hilarious swing tries to make a comeback – but does not really succeed. The run goes on but the overtones are now more shadowy and the mood on the scary side. The subtitle comes from the novel The Camomile Lawn (1984) by Mary Wesley of which Ken Taylor made a wonderful TV series adaptation for Channel 4 (1992) where a marvellous casting of great actors supports the colourful beautiful and delightful story. In this novel young Sophie (gorgeously played by the 10-year-old Rebecca Hall) has eagerly waited for her older cousins to arrive to her aunt’s house at the

Programme Note During the composition of my tenth string quartet a flower-name høst-tidløs came to my mind - and it would not me leave again. [høsttidløs is actually autumn crocus in English but the composer prefers harvest-timeless to maintain some of the associations of the Danish flower-name red.] The paradoxical union of a seasonal time (harvest) and no-time-at-all was a good fit to the sections of the work that I had composed at that time and I decided to tentatively stick to that title for the work-in-progress and now having finished the piece I can say that is is still a fitting title - and it stands. Enough about the title I will go onto describe the music a somewhat more precarious project. My tenth string quartet is probably the most basic string quartet that I have composed; melodically - and in sound - it employs the naturally based overtones and undertones* (perceived at major and minor respectively) and rhythmically it is based on growth on the principles of the Golden Section and the structure itself contrasts abundance and exuberance with sections of immobility and contemplation. However Melos melody is definitely the dominating aspect of my STRING QUARTET NO. 10; behind even the most rhythmically complex or pure sonoric sections lies a firm - if hidden - basis of melodic or polyphonic ideas. The work was composed in 2004-2005 for the Kroger Quartet.

Contemporary String Quartet Repertoire For New and Developing Ensembles-The Discover 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 availableto download online to allow for individual practice between rehearsals. Discover Series: Contemporary string quartet repertoire for new and developing ensembles. An introduction to quartet ensemble playing for string players of grade 1-3 standard. Familiar keys common rhythms and transparent musical forms ensure the short pieces and miniatures featured within Discover are accessible to all. Emphasis is firmly focussed on playing together as a unit.

Comprised of works from Volumes 1, 2 and 3 of the Suzuki Violin School, which have been arranged for string quartet by violinist/arranger Joseph Knaus. With lower string parts providing melodic and rhythmic counterpoint to set off the simple melodies (which match the Suzuki Method® repertoire), these quartets are nevertheless simple enough for beginning level players ready for their first chamber music experience. String Quartets for Beginning Ensembles are sold in sets including full score and one part book per instrument. Volume 3 contents are: Gavotte (P. Martini) * Minuet, BWV Anh. II 114/Anh. III 183/Anh. II 115 (J.S. Bach) * Gavotte in G Minor, Gavotte en Rondeau from Suite in G Minor for Klavier, BWV 822 (J.S. Bach) * Humoresque, Op. 101, No. 7 for Piano (A. Dvorák) * Gavotte (J. Becker) * Gavotte from Orchestral Suite No. 3 from Overture in D Major, BWV 1068 (J.S. Bach) * BourrEe, BourrEes I and II from Suite III in C Major for Violoncello, BWV 1009 (J.S. Bach).