Chamber Music English Horn, Oboe SKU: CF.WF229 15 Pieces for Oboe and ...(+)
Chamber Music English
Horn, Oboe
SKU:
CF.WF229
15 Pieces
for Oboe and English
Horn. Composed by
Gustave Vogt. Edited by
Kristin Jean Leitterman.
Collection - Performance.
32+8 pages. Carl Fischer
Music #WF229. Published
by Carl Fischer Music
(CF.WF229).
Chamber Music String Quartet SKU: PR.164002720 Cassatt. Composed b...(+)
Chamber Music String
Quartet
SKU:
PR.164002720
Cassatt. Composed
by Dan Welcher. Spiral
and Saddle. Premiere:
Cassatt Quartet,
Northeastern Illinois
University, Chicago, IL.
Contemporary. Set of
Score and Parts. With
Standard notation.
Composed 2007. WRT11142.
52+16+16+16+16 pages.
Duration 24 minutes.
Theodore Presser Company
#164-00272. Published by
Theodore Presser Company
(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.
Vistas. Composed
by Shulamit Ran. Set of
Score and Parts. With
Standard notation. 42 +
112 pages. Duration 25
minutes. Theodore Presser
Company #114-40698.
Published by Theodore
Presser Company
(PR.114406980).
UPC:
680160010806.
Shula
mit Ran’s second
string quartet, subtitled
“Vistas,â€
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,
“Vistasâ€, 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’
“properâ€
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:Â 1)
Concentric:Â from the
inside out 2)Â
Stasis 3) FlashesÂ
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.Â
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
lightâ€, but also a
“brief
timeâ€. Perhaps,
even, a
“smile�Final
ly, the last movement,
Vista, is not only
“a view or
outlookâ€, but also
“a comprehensive
mental view of a series
of remembered or
anticipated
events.â€Â 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.Â
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. “Vistasâ
€ 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.
Chamber Music Violin SKU: CF.BF131 Composed by Roland Vamos. With Standar...(+)
Chamber Music Violin
SKU: CF.BF131
Composed by Roland Vamos.
With Standard notation.
168 pages. Carl Fischer
Music #BF131. Published
by Carl Fischer Music
(CF.BF131).
ISBN
9781491153765. UPC:
680160911264. 9 x 12
inches.
Inspired by
Clarence Cameron
White’s book The
Violinist’s Daily
Dozen, The
Violinist’s Daily
Sixteen is a collection
of daily exercises
compiled by Roland Vamos.
Intended for student and
professional violinists,
the collection provides
the performer with a
variety of exercises for
daily warm-ups. Mr. Vamos
also focuses on
developing dexterity and
flexibility in the
fingers and joints, the
first and fourth fingers
in particular. Each of
the sixteen exercises is
notated for each of the
four strings, and Vamos
recommends that the
exercises be practiced as
warm-ups, choosing a
different string for each
day of practice.Also
included with the Daily
Sixteen is a
comprehensive set of
studies for developing
fluency with scales and
arpeggios. Mr.
Vamos’ unique
methodology is to begin
with major scales and
arpeggios, followed by
minor scales and
arpeggios, all of which
are notated in two, three
and four octaves.
Alternate fingers are
provided, as well as a
variety of slurred and
mixed bowings using the
three parts of the bow
whenever feasible. It is
a remarkably systematic
approach to performing
scales and arpeggios on
the violin and will
surely benefit students
and professionals
alike. ForewordThis
short hand-setting set of
exercises was inspired by
a book entitled The
Violinist’s Daily
Dozen, conceived by
Clarence Cameron White, a
prominent
African-American
violinist, composer and
arranger who enjoyed the
bulk of his career in the
first half of the
twentieth century.I have
practiced this set of
exercises since I was
twelve years old. It has
served me as a superb
warm-up and hand setting
tool. Over the years, I
have found that there are
some aspects of this
warm-up routine that were
not given sufficient
attention or not
addressed at all.
Consequently, I have
expanded the Daily Dozen
to create a new work
entitled The
Violinist’s Daily
Sixteen.I have also paid
particular attention in
this work as to how these
exercises are to be
practiced. In exercises
one and two, I have
indicated some notes to
be played before the
actual written exercises.
This is to ensure that
the fourth finger will be
over the string in a
position ready to strike
even though it is not
being used. Before
playing exercises three,
four, nine, ten, eleven
and twelve, I have
indicated silent fingers
to be placed on the notes
they would be playing if
they were being used.I
have replaced Mr.
White’s grace
notes with notes of
specific value and have
slowed down the exercises
so that the first joint
(the joint nearest the
string) of each finger
can move with flexibility
and strength. At no time
should the first joint
buckle.In Mr.
White’s version,
the last exercise gave
the first finger some
very valuable backward
extensions. In this
exercise (number 14 in
this book), I caution the
student not to move the
hand along with the first
finger. The hand should
remain in position while
the first finger
independently moves back
and forth.It became
obvious to me that if the
first finger were given
the opportunity to
develop the dexterity
that Mr. White’s
twelfth exercise
emphasizes, the fourth
finger could benefit from
an exercise that gives it
a forward extension.
Consequently, I added
another exercise to
create a Baker’s
Dozen (thirteen).Several
years later, I felt that
the second and third
fingers should also have
an exercise to further
develop their
dexterity…hence
exercise fourteen was
added to create a
“Vamos
Dozen.â€Because the
first finger did not have
sufficient practice in
the development of the
first joint in the
original version, I have
added two exercises to
precede White’s
fifth exercise. After
re-working and
re-numbering these
exercises, I have come up
with a total of sixteen
exercises. It is my
suggestion that these be
practiced as a warm-up,
choosing a different
string each
day.—Roland
VamosEvanston, Illinois
2017Â PrefaceScales are
a means of teaching a
person the fingerboard on
his or her instrument.
The fingers move across
the strings and are
required to make shifts,
all in highly organized
patterns. Scales and
arpeggios are the
foundation upon which our
repertoire is built. Many
scale books have been
written; each one being
organized in its own
specific way. The Flesch
Scale System has been a
standard for many
decades. It is very
comprehensive and
systematic. From the
point of view of
establishing similar
patterns, it has one
drawback: it is organized
by starting with a major
key, followed by its
relative minor, going
through the circle of
fifths. I believe that it
is more profitable to do
only major scales with
their arpeggios first,
going up chromatically,
and then follow them in a
similar way with the
minor scales. In using
this approach, the
similarities in
fingerings between the
various scales are more
apparent. It is also
profitable to have
alternate fingerings
whenever possible. My
approach to scales and
arpeggios includes a
variety of slurred and
mixed bowings using the
three parts of the bow
whenever feasible. These
bowings are not
all-inclusive. Whenever a
particularly awkward
bowing pattern is
encountered in the
repertoire, it can be
practiced as an
additional bowing
variation in the scales
and arpeggios. Â Â I
have chosen to introduce
the three and four octave
scales by teaching two
octave scales across the
strings in one position
going up chromatically
through seven positions;
starting on the first,
second, third, and
finally fourth fingers in
major and melodic
minor.—Roland
VamosEvanston, Illinois
2017.
Boy
Soprano, Soprano, Tenor,
Flugelhorn, Mixed Chorus,
and Chamber Orchestra
Study Score. Composed
by Harald Weiss. This
edition: Paperback/Soft
Cover. Sheet music. Study
Score. Classical.
Softcover. Composed
2008/2009. 188 pages.
Duration 100'. Schott
Music #ED20619. Published
by Schott Music
(HL.49018099).
ISBN
9790001158428. UPC:
884088567347.
8.25x11.75x0.457 inches.
Latin - German.
On
letting go(Concerning the
selection of the texts)
In the selection of the
texts, I have allowed
myself to be motivated
and inspired by the
concept of 'letting go'.
This appears to me to be
one of the essential
aspects of dying, but
also of life itself. We
humans cling far too
strongly to successful
achievements, whether
they have to do with
material or ideal values,
or relationships of all
kinds. We cannot and do
not want to let go,
almost as if our life
depended on it. As we
will have to practise the
art of letting go at the
latest during our hour of
death, perhaps we could
already make a start on
this while we are still
alive. Tagore describes
this farewell with very
simple but strikingly
vivid imagery: 'I will
return the key of my
door'. I have set this
text for tenor solo. Here
I imagine, and have
correspondingly noted in
a certain passage of the
score, that the
protagonist finds himself
as though 'in an ocean'
of voices in which he is
however not drowning, but
immersing himself in
complete relaxation. The
phenomenon of letting go
is described even more
simply and tersely in
Psalm 90, verse 12: 'So
teach us to number our
days, that we may apply
our hearts unto wisdom'.
This cannot be expressed
more plainly.I have begun
the requiem with a solo
boy's voice singing the
beginning of this psalm
on a single note, the
note A. This in effect
says it all. The work
comes full circle at the
culmination with a repeat
of the psalm which
subsequently leads into a
resplendent 'lux
aeterna'. The
intermediate texts of the
Requiem which highlight
the phenomenon of letting
go in the widest spectrum
of colours originate on
the one hand from the
Latin liturgy of the
Messa da Requiem (In
Paradisum, Libera me,
Requiem aeternam, Mors
stupebit) and on the
other hand from poems by
Joseph von Eichendorff,
Hermann Hesse,
Rabindranath Tagore and
Rainer Maria Rilke.All
texts have a distinctive
positive element in
common and view death as
being an organic process
within the great system
of the universe, for
example when Hermann
Hesse writes: 'Entreiss
dich, Seele, nun der
Zeit, entreiss dich
deinen Sorgen und mache
dich zum Flug bereit in
den ersehnten Morgen'
['Tear yourself way , o
soul, from time, tear
yourself away from your
sorrows and prepare
yourself to fly away into
the long-awaited
morning'] and later: 'Und
die Seele unbewacht will
in freien Flugen
schweben, um im
Zauberkreis der Nacht
tief und tausendfach zu
leben' ['And the
unfettered soul strives
to soar in free flight to
live in the magic sphere
of the night, deep and
thousandfold']. Or Joseph
von Eichendorff whose
text evokes a distant
song in his lines: 'Und
meine Seele spannte weit
ihre Flugel aus. Flog
durch die stillen Lande,
als floge sie nach Haus'
['And my soul spread its
wings wide. Flew through
the still country as if
homeward bound.']Here a
strong romantically
tinged occidental
resonance can be detected
which is however also
accompanied by a
universal spirit going
far beyond all cultures
and religions. In the
beginning was the sound
Long before any sort of
word or meaningful phrase
was uttered by vocal
chords, sounds,
vibrations and tones
already existed. This
brings us back to the
music. Both during my
years of study and at
subsequent periods, I had
been an active
participant in the world
of contemporary music,
both as percussionist and
also as conductor and
composer. My early scores
had a somewhat
adventurous appearance,
filled with an abundance
of small black dots: no
rhythm could be too
complicated, no register
too extreme and no
harmony too dissonant. I
devoted myself intensely
to the handling of
different parameters
which in serial music
coexist in total
equality: I also studied
aleatory principles and
so-called minimal music.I
subsequently emigrated
and took up residence in
Spain from where I
embarked on numerous
travels over the years to
India, Africa and South
America. I spent repeated
periods during this time
as a resident in
non-European countries.
This meant that the
currents of contemporary
music swept past me
vaguely and at a great
distance. What I instead
absorbed during this
period were other
completely new cultures
in which I attempted to
immerse myself as
intensively as possible.I
learned foreign languages
and came into contact
with musicians of all
classes and styles who
had a different cultural
heritage than my own: I
was intoxicated with the
diversity of artistic
potential.Nevertheless,
the further I distanced
myself from my own
Western musical heritage,
the more this returned
insistently in my
consciousness.The scene
can be imagined of
sitting somewhere in the
middle of the Brazilian
jungle surrounded by the
wailing of Indians and
out of the blue being
provided with the
opportunity to hear
Beethoven's late string
quartets: this can be a
heart-wrenching
experience, akin to an
identity crisis. This
type of experience can
also be described as
cathartic. Whatever the
circumstances, my
'renewed' occupation with
the 'old' country would
not permit me to return
to the point at which I
as an audacious young
student had maltreated
the musical parameters of
so-called contemporary
music. A completely
different approach would
be necessary: an
extremely careful
approach, inching my way
gradually back into the
Western world: an
approach which would
welcome tradition back
into the fold, attempt to
unfurl the petals and
gently infuse this
tradition with a breath
of contemporary
life.Although I am aware
that I will not unleash a
revolution or scandal
with this approach, I am
nevertheless confident
as, with the musical
vocabulary of this
Requiem, I am travelling
in an orbit in which no
ballast or complex
structures will be
transported or intimated:
on the contrary, I have
attempted to form the
message of the texts in
music with the naivety of
a 'homecomer'. Harald
WeissColonia de San
PedroMarch 2009.
Harbor Music Quatuor à cordes: 2 violons, alto, violoncelle Theodore Presser Co.
String Quartet SKU: PR.16400222S Composed by Dan Welcher. Full score (stu...(+)
String Quartet
SKU:
PR.16400222S
Composed
by Dan Welcher. Full
score (study). With
Standard notation.
Duration 11 minutes.
Theodore Presser Company
#164-00222S. Published by
Theodore Presser Company
(PR.16400222S).
UPC:
680160037841.
This
work follows my Quartet
No. 1 by five years. In
terms of style and
aesthetic aim, however,
it seems light years
away. Where the first
work, a 28-minute,
four-movement piece, took
aim at cosmic conflicts
and heroic resolutions,
the present work is
intended as a kind of
divertissment. Harbor
Music lasts a mere eleven
minutes, is cast in a
single movement with six
sections, and should
leave both performers and
listeners with a feeling
of good humor and
affection. The
title comes from my
experience as a guest in
the magnificent city of
Sydney, Australia. One of
its most attractive
features is its unique
system of ferry boats:
the city is laid out
around a large,
multi-channeled harbor,
with destinations more
easily approached by
water than by land.
Consequently, inhabitants
of Sydney get around on
small, people-friendly
boats that come and go
from the central docks at
Circular Quay. During a
week's visit in 1991, I
must have boarded these
boats at least a dozen
times, always bound for a
new location - the resort
town of Manley, or the
Zoo at Taronga Park, or
the shopping district at
Darling Harbour.
In casting about for a
form for my second string
quartet, a kind of loose
rondo came to mind. Each
new destination would be
approached from the same
starting-out point
(although there are
subtle variations in the
repeating theme; it's
always in a new key, and
the texture is never the
same). The result, I
hope, is a sense of
constant new information
presented with
introductory frames of a
more familiar nature.
The embarkation
theme, which begins the
piece, is a sort of
bi-tonal fanfare in which
the violins are in G
major and the viola and
cello are in B-flat
major. It is bold, eager,
and forward-looking. The
first voyage maintains
this bi-tonality,
beginning as a 9/8 due
for second violin and
viola in a kind of
rocking motion -much as a
boat produces when
reaching the deeper water
in the harbor. A sweet,
nostalgic theme emerges
over this rocking
accompaniment. This music
is developed somewhat,
then transforms quickly
into a much faster and
lighter episode, filled
with rising and falling
scales (again, in
differing keys). A
scherzando interlude in
short notes and changing
meters provides contrast,
and the episode ends with
a reprise of the scales.
The second
embarkation follows, this
time in A major/C major.
It leads quickly into a
very warm and slow theme,
in wide-leaping intervals
for the viola. This
section is interrupted
twice by solo cadenzas
for the cello, suggesting
distant boat-horns in
major thirds. The end of
the episode becomes a
transition, with
boat-horns leading into
the final appearance of
the embarkation music,
this time in trills and
tremolos instead of
sharply accented chords.
The nostalgic theme of
the first episode makes a
final appearance, serving
now as a coda. The
rocking motion continues,
in a lullaby fashion,
leaving us drowsy and
satisfied on our homeward
journey. Harbor
Music was written for the
Cavani Quartet, and is
dedicated to Richard J.
Bogomolny. Commissioned
by his employees at First
National Supermarkets as
a gift, it represents a
thank you from many of
the people (including
this composer) who have
benefitted from his
vision and generosity. An
ardent advocate of
chamber music (and a
cellist himself), Mr.
Bogomolny has for many
years been Chairman of
the Board of Chamber
Music America. -- Dan
Welcher.
Composed
by Peter Schickele. Full
score. Duration 26
minutes. Theodore Presser
Company #114-42131S.
Published by Theodore
Presser Company
(PR.11442131S).
UPC:
680160681006.
A lot
of chamber music playing
went on in Fargo, North
Dakota during my teenage
years. The participants
included both high school
friend - my brother, who
plays viola, was an is an
inveterate chamber music
player - and members of
parents' generation. The
latter included not only
professional musicians
(the conductor of the
Fargo-Moorhead Community
Orchestra, who also
played cello and was my
first composition
teacher, his wife, who
was the orchestra's
concert mistress, and
others) but also people
from various other walks
of life. Although I don't
play a string instrument,
I was almost always in
attendance, with score in
hand. (One summer, all
the young cellists we
played with went to the
Interlochen Music Camp,
so I got to play the
cello parts on the
bassoon.) Mostly it was
string quartets that were
played, but one of the
larger pieces I remember
being done more than once
was the Brahms Sextet in
G Major, and I think that
the idea for utilizing
that combination had been
lurking in the back of my
mind since then. In the
middle 1980's, ideas for
a string sextet began
appearing in my
sketchbooks; one movement
(the fourth) was actually
completed in one of the
sketchbooks. But without
a deadline, it's hard for
me to finish a major
work, since there are
always other pieces (with
deadlines) waiting to be
completed. So when the
Composers Showcase at
Lincoln Center asked me
to put together a
retrospective of my work,
I knew I wanted to have a
premiere on the program,
and May 7, 1990 became
the deadline that I got
the piece done. The work
is in six movements, with
a symmetrical key
pattern; the movements
range from the very
dramatic to the very
easy-going. I had
contacted the Lark
Quartet, who had
commissioned my String
Quartet No.2, about
forming the core of the
sextet. Unfortunately,
one of the Larks had a
scheduling conflict, but
the other three rounded
up three more players,
and the six of them gave
the piece a rousing
performance, in spite of
the limited rehearsal
time. The players were
Eva Gruesser, Genovia
Cummins, Anna Kruger,
Mary Hamman, Astrid
Schween and Julia
Lichten. A lot of
chamber music playing
went on in Fargo, North
Dakota during my teenage
years. The participants
included both high school
friend – my
brother, who plays viola,
was an is an inveterate
chamber music player
– and members of
parents’
generation. The latter
included not only
professional musicians
(the conductor of the
Fargo-Moorhead Community
Orchestra, who also
played cello and was my
first composition
teacher, his wife, who
was the
orchestra’s
concert mistress, and
others) but also people
from various other walks
of life. Although I
don’t play a
string instrument, I was
almost always in
attendance, with score in
hand. (One summer, all
the young cellists we
played with went to the
Interlochen Music Camp,
so I got to play the
cello parts on the
bassoon.)Mostly it was
string quartets that were
played, but one of the
larger pieces I remember
being done more than once
was the Brahms Sextet in
G Major, and I think that
the idea for utilizing
that combination had been
lurking in the back of my
mind since then. In the
middle 1980’s,
ideas for a string sextet
began appearing in my
sketchbooks; one movement
(the fourth) was actually
completed in one of the
sketchbooks. But without
a deadline, it’s
hard for me to finish a
major work, since there
are always other pieces
(with deadlines) waiting
to be completed. So when
the Composers Showcase at
Lincoln Center asked me
to put together a
retrospective of my work,
I knew I wanted to have a
premiere on the program,
and May 7, 1990 became
the deadline that I got
the piece done.The work
is in six movements, with
a symmetrical key
pattern; the movements
range from the very
dramatic to the very
easy-going.I had
contacted the Lark
Quartet, who had
commissioned my String
Quartet No.2, about
forming the core of the
sextet. Unfortunately,
one of the Larks had a
scheduling conflict, but
the other three rounded
up three more players,
and the six of them gave
the piece a rousing
performance, in spite of
the limited rehearsal
time. The players were
Eva Gruesser, Genovia
Cummins, Anna Kruger,
Mary Hamman, Astrid
Schween and Julia
Lichten.
Chamber Music String Quartet SKU: PR.114405050 Composed by John Downey. S...(+)
Chamber Music String
Quartet
SKU:
PR.114405050
Composed
by John Downey. Set of
Score and Parts. With
Standard notation. 53
pages. Duration 25
minutes. Theodore Presser
Company #114-40505.
Published by Theodore
Presser Company
(PR.114405050).
UPC:
680160008377. 11 x 14
inches.
Although
structurally it
subdivides into five
movements, the entire
quartet emerges as one
vast continuum. There are
no formal breaks between
movements. However,
certain musical signposts
can be discerned,
associated with each of
the movements'
terminations and new
beginnings. The opening
movement, The Nostalgia
of Clanging Bell
Sonorities, begins
floating on recurrent Bbs
whose soft rhythmic flow
slowly puts into motion
strong undercurrents
suggestive of the latent
power of water... After
several suggestions of
tolling bells, the
movement gradually fades
into hushed tones of
veiled and very distant
sonorities. It uses a
unique efffect, for the
first time in a musical
context, conveyed through
the use of extra heavy
practice mutes. The
second movement, The
Spill of Water ,
disengages itself from
the first through its
distinct contrast in
tempo. Water moves fast,
and when it splashes, it
tends to run wildly. In
this case, it happens to
be bubbly water that
gushes forth bodly...
smashing across rocky
shorlines. So, too, the
music attempts to conjure
such moods. At the end of
this movement, a cello
cadenza emerges,
introducing an
introspective type of
melodicism. The third
movement, The Poignancy
of Memory, contains many
silences as it tries to
convey memory through
fragmented remembrances
much like often occur in
our dream state.
Progressing through
several slowly building
images, it gradually
works itself into
juxtaposition of musical
images. Towards the
movement's end, high
harmonics are sounding in
all four instruments
while left hand pizzicato
notes in the cello pluch
the last remembrances of
this central core. Almost
imperceptibly, the viola
assumes leadership as it
dissolves into: The
fourth movement, The
Fluidity of Motion, which
has mostly the viola, but
also the cello,
articulating lyrical
statements against the
sheets of sound conjured
up by the two violins
playing a flood of
swirling figures, evokes
a kind of static motion
in spae. Here, the
virtually imperceptible
manner in which this
hushed whisper continues
incessantly, can suggest
the potential fluidity
with which movement may
inch forward... Later
into the fourth movement
, two fairly extended
solos by the second and
then the first violins,
lead to a kind of
spontaneous dialogue
among the four
instrumentalists.
Eventually, this musical
conversation gets caught
up in: The fifth
movement's The Rush of
Time, which opens with a
hushed flurry of speed,
precipitates the Finale.
It generates, at first
slowly, but then very
swiftly, whole shifts of
rhythmic fields that
initially seem to
conflict with one
another. Ultimately, this
use of 'psycho-rhythmics
contributes to an on-rush
of motion and time.
Rhythmic changes are, at
times, abruptly
precipitated with but
little or no preparation
creating a kind of
inevitability in forward
thrust, while the
movement rushes forward
with a feeling of gradual
and continuous
acceleration. It gathers
density as more and more
notes are piled
progressively upon
successive beats. The
attempt is to spark
tension and ignite
excitement by means of
frenetic confrontations
of dissimilitudes.
Ultimately - with the
help of time - these
polarities centrifically
spin out their own
destinies with their
accompanying fall-out and
own inevitable
resolutions.
Chamber Music String Quartet SKU: PR.11440505S Composed by John Downey. F...(+)
Chamber Music String
Quartet
SKU:
PR.11440505S
Composed
by John Downey. Full
score. With Standard
notation. 53 pages.
Duration 25 minutes.
Theodore Presser Company
#114-40505S. Published by
Theodore Presser Company
(PR.11440505S).
UPC:
680160008391. 11 x 14
inches.
Although
structurally it
subdivides into five
movements, the entire
quartet emerges as one
vast continuum. There are
no formal breaks between
movements. However,
certain musical signposts
can be discerned,
associated with each of
the movements'
terminations and new
beginnings. The opening
movement, The Nostalgia
of Clanging Bell
Sonorities, begins
floating on recurrent Bbs
whose soft rhythmic flow
slowly puts into motion
strong undercurrents
suggestive of the latent
power of water... After
several suggestions of
tolling bells, the
movement gradually fades
into hushed tones of
veiled and very distant
sonorities. It uses a
unique effect, for the
first time in a musical
context, conveyed through
the use of extra heavy
practice mutes. The
second movement, The
Spill of Water,
disengages itself from
the first through its
distinct contrast in
tempo. Water moves fast,
and when it splashes, it
tends to run wildly. In
this case, it happens to
be bubbly water that
gushes forth bodly...
smashing across rocky
shorelines. So, too, the
music attempts to conjure
such moods. At the end of
this movement, a cello
cadenza emerges,
introducing an
introspective type of
melodicism. The third
movement, The Poignancy
of Memory, contains many
silences as it tries to
convey memory through
fragmented remembrances
much like often occur in
our dream state.
Progressing through
several slowly building
images, it gradually
works itself into
juxtaposition of musical
images. Towards the
movement's end, high
harmonics are sounding in
all four instruments
while left hand pizzicato
notes in the cello pluck
the last remembrances of
this central core. Almost
imperceptibly, the viola
assumes leadership as it
dissolves into: The
fourth movement, The
Fluidity of Motion, which
has mostly the viola, but
also the cello,
articulating lyrical
statements against sheets
of sound conjured up by
the two violins playing a
flood of swirling
figures, evokes a kind of
static motion in space.
Here , the virtually
imperceptible manner in
which this hushed whisper
continues incessantly,
can suggest the potential
fluidity with which
movement may inch
forward... Later into the
fourth movement, two
fairly extended solos by
the second and then the
first violins, lead to a
kind of spontaneous
dialogue amont the four
instrumentalists.
Eventually, this musical
conversation gets caught
up in: The fifth
movement's The Rush of
Time, which opens with a
hushed flurry of speed,
precipitates the Finale.
It generates, at first
slowly, but then very
swiftly, whole shifts of
rhythmic fields that
initially seem to
conflict with one
another. Ultimately, this
use of psycho-rhythmics
contributes to an on-rush
seem of motion and time.
Rhythmic changes are, at
times, abruptly
precipitated with but
little or no preparation
creating a kind of
inevitability in forward
thrust, while the
movement rushes forward
with a feeling of gradual
and continuous
acceleration. It gathers
density as more and more
notes are piled
progressively upon
successive beats. The
attempt is to spark
tension and ignite
excitement by means of
frenetic confrontations
of dissimilitudes.
Ultimately - with the
help of time - these
polarities centrifically
spin out their own
destinies with their
accompanying fall-out and
own inevitable
resolutions.
(Violin). For Violin. Book; CD; Play-Along; String Series. Ultimate Pop Instrume...(+)
(Violin). For Violin.
Book; CD; Play-Along;
String Series. Ultimate
Pop Instrumental Solos
Series. Movie. Grade 2;
Grade 3. 84 pages.
Published by Alfred Music
Publishing
(26 Trios That Can Be Played by Any Combination of String Instruments). By Doris...(+)
(26 Trios That Can Be
Played by Any Combination
of String Instruments).
By Doris Gazda. Arranged
by Doris Gazda. For
Violin. Book. 48 pages.
Published by Carl Fischer