10 Fugues For String Quartet Vol. 2. Par BACH JOHANN-SEBASTIAN. The idea for these arrangements came to me whilst listening to the Hagen Quartet's beautiful recording of the fugues that form part of Haydn's 'Sun Quartets', Op. 20. The spirit and influence of J.S. Bach, in particular his Well Tempered Clavier, Book II, courses through these three miraculous Haydn fugues. Like the viol consort, the string quartet suits this kind of composition (the fugue), with all four instruments sufficiently similar in character to each other to match the extraordinary unity and economy of the counterpoint. A string quartet playing Bach fugues is a good example of a harmonious relationship between form andcontent: just as there is a unifying principle behind the construction of the four string instruments, so there is (usually) a single theme or subject that unifies the construction of a four-part fugue. Thus the form enacts the content, telling you something about the text and message within. Apart from Haydn's and a handful of other composers' wondrous creations, there's little fugal writing for string quartet, at least in comparison with the abundance of other forms. This was another reason to make these arrangements. The quartet offers a melodic independence impossible to achieve on a single instrument. And I believe the technical and interpretative challenges posed by this repertoire and ndash - lightness of sound and rhythmic fluidity, for example - will be very valuable to quartets seeking the holy grail: a unified sound. Perhaps the simplest and most compelling reason for this work is that I just love this music more than I can say. These dazzling pieces, mostly fast, bright and in major keys, show Bach at his most playful, funny and mischievous, composing for an instrument rarely associated with these qualities. And so I'm very happy to offer string quartets these little know fugues, written by my favourite composer - a violinist and violist himself, but above all a master / Classique / Date parution : 2018-05-04/ Répertoire / Quatuor à Cordes

For Flute, Clarinet In Bb, and Piano. Par JALBERT PIERRE. Triple Set was commissioned by the Flute/Clarinet Duos Consortium, an organization of 17 groups which will give the premiere performances of the work. I’ve always been fascinated by the flute and clarinet, and when I was approached by my colleagues at Rice (Leone Buyse and Michael Webster) to write a piece for flute, clarinet and piano (I’m a pianist myself), for the Flute/Clarinet Duos Consortium, I was happy to oblige. Both of my sons also play the clarinet, so many of these sounds are around me all the time. The piece is in three contrasting movements. The first movement, Driving, marked “With great energy”, is rhythmically propelled forward by the piano’s muted strings and the flute and clarinet playing at first in rhythmic unison, then each taking a turn at solos while the other participates in the accompanimental syncopations. The second movement, Still, is marked “Timeless” and slowly unfolds its melodic and harmonic ideas. The third movement, Relentless, is a kind of 6/8 scherzo, which vigorously and relentlessly propels itself forward to the end, with just two minor interruptions of quasi-cadenza like passages for flute and clarinet duo. - Pierre Jalbert/ Répertoire / Flûte Traversière, Clarinette et Piano

Par BARTOK BELA. Béla Bartók?s six string quartets, composed between 1908 and 1940, are 20th-century milestones of the genre. His First String Quartet is closely linked to his unhappy love for the violinist Stefi Geyer, to whom he sent the initial measures of its first movement in early 1908 with the remark: ?My song of death?. When he completed all three movements of the work a year later, he had, according to his friend and colleague Zoltán Kodály, written himself ?back into life?. In this First Quartet, Bartók combines late-Romantic sounds with elements of the folk music that had since 1905 been a source of increasing interest to him. This definitive edition, supervised by Bartók scholar László Somfai, is the first-ever Urtext edition of this work. It takes into account both manuscript and printed sources, as well as letters and notes by the composer in which he recorded matters such as modifications to tempo markings. The Henle edition thus offers a musical text edited to the highest scholarly standards, with fascinating information on the work?s compositional history and performance practice. Sensible page turns and cue notes help to make this edition a real ?must have?. / Date parution : 2023-05-06/ Répertoire / Quatuor à Cordes