Born in South Africa, but now an Irish citizen, Kevin Volans' musical idiom has been shaped by an unusually diverse range of experiences, including studies with Stockhausen in Cologne, field trips to South Africa to study traditional music, his own involvement with the New Simplicity movement, his collection of contemporary art and African textiles, friendships with composers like Morton Feldman and Gerald Barry, as well as a love of virtuoso piano music which he performs, broadcasts and records. While having an easily recognised, unique voice, Volans' music resists compartmentalisation. He is as comfortable working in conventional genres as embarking on innovative collaborations with artists of other disciplines.String Quartet #1 (White Man Sleeps) was written for the Kronos Quartet and was first performed by them in July 1986, London.The title 'White Man Sleeps' comes from a moment in nyanga Panpipe music where the performers leave off playing their loud pipes for a few cycles and dance only to the sound of their ankle rattles, to let the white landowner sleep - for a minute or two.'In composing this piece I drew from the following sources: the first movement owes something to the style of Basotho concertina music - the second and fourth movements are drawn from traditional Nyungwe music played by Makina Chirenje and his Nyanga panpipe group at Nsava, Tete, Mozambique, recorded and transcribed by Andrew Tracey (to be found in an article entitled 'The nyanga Panpipe dance' in African Music, Vol.5, #1 (1971) - the third movement derives from the San bow music (recorded by Tony Traill of the University of Witwatersrand) and from Basotho lesiba music, transcribed by myself - in the fifth movement I added my own invented folklore. My approach to the original music was anything but purist - it is played in Western tuning, filtered, slowed down by a few 'time-octaves?, cast into non-African metres (like the 13-beat pattern of the first dance) and redistributed between the players in several ways. I also used interlocking techniques where they were absent in the original models and vice versa' - Kevin VolansDuration 24 minutes. Parts available: CH61205. / Quatuor A Cordes (Conducteur)

Par BACEWICZ GRAZYNA. Studying the sketches for works which a composer considers to be finished, perfected, is a fascinating activity. It enables one to penetrate the secrets of creative work, to compare the initial outline of a composition with its final version. A sketch is generally left untitled, but it does occur that a composer enhances the status of such a draft by giving it a title, before creating an improved version of that title on the basis of the finished work. The list of compositions by Grazyna Bacewicz, the full catalogue of which is held in the National Library in Warsaw, includes a work for string quartet entitled Quatuor. The manuscript was left undated, but analysis of the music allows us to date this work to the mid-1960s. In the composer?s output from that period, the instrumental tone colouring, often an element that helps to forge a work, takes on particular significance. The first movement of the Quatuor [à cordes] opens with three fifth-tritone chords ?cast forth?, in succession, in saltando-gettato technique by the cello, second violin and first violin. When we look at the beginning of the Seventh String Quartet, from 1965, such a chord appears in the second bar of the cello part. Further comparisons lead to interesting conclusions. The two opening movements are almost identical, built from the same elements, only spatially arranged in a different way. In the structure of the first movement of the Seventh Quartet, one distinguishes two thematic planes, which shape the narrative after the fashion of a sonata allegro. The first theme is a series of episodes of changing texture ? from passagework to chords and short glissandos repeated with varying intensity. The second theme (Meno mosso) displays an imitative form. Both works feature an inverted reprise. For the first 25 bars of the second movement, a nostalgic Grave, the two works sound identical. The continuation of this movement in the Quatuor [à cordes] is more modest than in the analogous segments of the Seventh Quartet, in terms of both changing textures and the use of differentiated means of articulation. Towards the end, a motif from the beginning of this movement returns in modified form. Both the third movements (Capriccioso in the Quatuor [à cordes], Con vivezza in the Seventh Quartet) take the form of a rondo, and appearing in each of them is the same ?warbling? theme, based on scattered notes with grace notes. The Seventh String Quartet is in three movements. The presumed prototype consists of four movements. The last movement of the Quatuor [à cordes] is a Maestoso resembling a mine of textural ideas for other works of a sonoristic provenance from this period. The introduction, constituting a closed narrative whole and a reference point for the rest of the movement, is followed by segments that are dominated by ostinatos of various kinds, including with the use of harmonics, passages built on the progressive shifting of short motifs, and unevenly spread chords. Grazyna Bacewicz used material from earlier works more than once in her compositions. Her oeuvre also includes ?twin? pieces merely scored for a different set of instruments. Yet the self-quotation that occurs in the case of the Quatuor [à cordes] and the Seventh String Quartet ? lengthy passages from another of her works reused with minor modifications ? is an unusual situation. It undermines the former?s status as an independent work. Malgorzata Gasiorowska/ Répertoire / Quatuor à Cordes

10 Great Film Music Themes Score + Parties. Par DIVERS AUTEURS (ARR.ANTHONY GROGER). Le cinéma a toujours cherché, par-dessus tout, à éveiller des émotions. Cependant, aussi passionnante, émouvante ou envoûtante que soit une histoire, son impact n'est ressenti pleinement que si elle est accompagnée d'une musique appropriée. Bien que la plupart des bandes sonores exigent un grand orchestre, un ensemble beaucoup plus modeste suffit. Anthony Gröger a pris dix des plus belles musiques de films de tous les temps et produit de splendides arrangements pour quatuor à cordes. Comme les autres volumes de la série Pops for String Quartet, le présent ouvrage comprend une troisième partie facultative pour violon au cas où un alto ne serait pas disponible. Voici une collection indispensable pour toutes les occasions ! / Niveau : Facile - Intermédiaire / Date parution : 2019-08-22/ Recueil / Quatuor à Cordes

Par DVORAK ANTONIN. Dvorák's 'String Quintet in G major” op. 77, had five movements when it was premiered on 18 March 1876. Its second movement was the 'Intermezzo” from his 'String Quartet in E minor” (1870). Later Dvorák removed this movement from the quintet, expanded it, and published it as a separate 'Notturno” for string orchestra op. 40. The 'Intermezzo” is included in its original version in the appendix of the score. This edition is based on the 'Complete Edition of the Works of Antonín Dvorák”, the principal source being the first edition of 1888, for which Dvorák subjected the work to revision. - Dvorák's famous quintet with double bass - New detailed foreword by Dvorák scholar David Beveridge (Eng/Cz/Ger) - Musical text based on the 'Complete Edition of the Works of Antonín Dvorák” (series IV, vol. 8)/ Répertoire / Quatuor à Cordes

Lubo? Fi?er (1935?1999) was one of the most distinctive figures of Czech music in the 20th century and composed the Variations on an Unknown Theme in 1976. The ?unknown theme? was a prankish eight-bar theme from Fi?er?s student days. In the elation following the home-team win over Canada on 15 March 1959, he made a bet with his colleague Kalach to compose a concert piece for violin and orchestra with the working title ?Canada-Rondo?. The whimsical contest was abandoned, but Fi?er did not forget the theme and he later created variations on it for his new composition for the Talich Quartet. The Variations on an Unknown Theme have now been published for the first time ever. This edition is based on the autograph of the score which is housed in the Czech Museum of Music in Prague.

Par BARTOK BELA. Bartók?s Second String Quartet was composed ? with several long interruptions ? between 1915 and 1918, after he had spent several years almost solely devoted to collecting folk music. The melody and rhythms of the riotous middle movement ?Allegro, molto capriccioso? provide impressive testimony of how his research trips had taken him as far as North Africa. The first edition of this quartet, published in Vienna in 1920, contains a conspicuous number of errors that were only partially corrected in a later revision undertaken by Bartók. As late as the 1940s he noted changes in his personal copy of the score that have never previously appeared in print. These late changes by Bartók are taken into account in this definitive edition of the string quartets supervised by Bartók scholar László Somfai, with problematic passages in the sources carefully documented. It is the first-ever Urtext edition of this work. Sensible page turns and cue notes in the parts mean that this edition is ideal for exploring Bartók?s sound world in performance. / Date parution : 2023-05-06/ Répertoire / Quatuor à Cordes

Par SCHLEE THOMAS DANIEL. For composer Thomas Daniel Schlee, the 'intimate sound possibilities of the string quartet” have the potential 'to formulate an, albeit 'only' individual, solution to the somewhat forlorn condition of new art music within society that we are unfortunately experiencing today.” Schlee's Fourth String Quartet opens with a pure C major sound, out of which he develops a harmonically free band of voices: 'The pure as a source, not pleasing”! After a melodically dominating episode and a continuation of the 'swinging tone-motion from the beginning”, a thematically solidified section follows. It is met by a second, more extensive melodic episode, followed by a 'nightly scene”. Coming full circle, the opening music of the piece finds its continuation, leading into a lament – first articulated by the ensemble, then finally as 'the viola's long, forlorn search for the melody symbolizing a farewell.”/ Répertoire / Quatuor à Cordes

for String Quartet op. 35a. Par SUK JOSEF. Josef Suk played second violin in the Bohemian String Quartet. Since 1914 the ensemble was obliged to perform the Austrian national anthem at the opening of every concert. Suk decided to supplement this obligatory piece with a work inspired by the ancient sacred Bohemian 'St. Wenceslas” hymn. The hymn's message - a plea for the well-being of the Czech people, directed at their patron saint - was immediately understood by the audience. The Bohemian String Quartet performed this single-movement Meditation for the first time on 27 September 1914 - the premiere of the version for string orchestra followed on 22 November 1914, played by the Czech Philharmonic. That same year the piece was published by Fr. A. Urbánek together with arrangements for piano and organ. This first Urtext edition, prepared by the Suk scholar Zdenek Nouza, is published in two scorings, one for string quartet (BA 9583 - study score TP 583) and another for string orchestra (BA 9584). The orchestral version differs in some details and has an added part for double bass. - First Urtext edition/ Répertoire / Quatuor à Cordes

Arrangeur: Hartmut Schick. Par DVORAK ANTONIN. When Antonín Dvorák started composing his String Quartet No. 10 in late 1878, none of his quartets had yet been performed. However this new work, deliberately cast in the 'Slavonic” style, quickly achieved international renown and has remained among one of the most popular string quartets by Dvorák. The authoritative Dvorák scholar Hartmut Schick has consulted all accessible sources, most notably the printed score published by Simrock and the autograph. Now, after many decades, a definitive Urtext edition of this major work can be presented. In comparison to the old Supraphon edition of 1955, the new publication includes a detailed Critical Commentary (Eng) as well as edited early versions of the middle movements in the appendix. A detailed Foreword (Ger/Cz/Eng) by the editor is also contained./ Répertoire / Quatuor à Cordes

for String Quartet Full Score. Par HARTKE STEPHEN. THE FIFTH BOOK of the title refers to what Stephen Hartke considers his fifth book of madrigals, only two of which books are actually for voices, with the others being for string instruments. Hartke writes madrigals for string instruments due to their inherent singing quality, but also due to the fluid structural character of the madrigal as a genre that often responds in quite mercurial ways to the emotional unfolding of its text. These five movements are thus abstract madrigals whose larger outlines, shifts in mood, and various internal reminiscences are intended to convey a private, unspoken drama. Commissioned for the Brentano String Quartet by the Frankfurt Burgerstiftung im Holzhausenschlosschen sponsored by the Ernst Max von Grunelius-Stiftung. / Date parution : 2020-04-11/ Répertoire / Quatuor à Cordes

Arrangeur: Hartmut Schick. Par DVORAK ANTONIN. When Antonín Dvorák started composing his String Quartet No. 10 in late 1878, none of his quartets had yet been performed. However this new work, deliberately cast in the 'Slavonic” style, quickly achieved international renown and has remained among one of the most popular string quartets by Dvorák. The authoritative Dvorák scholar Hartmut Schick has consulted all accessible sources, most notably the printed score published by Simrock and the autograph. Now, after many decades, a definitive Urtext edition of this major work can be presented. In comparison to the old Supraphon edition of 1955, the new publication includes a detailed Critical Commentary (Eng) as well as edited early versions of the middle movements in the appendix. A detailed Foreword (Ger/Cz/Eng) by the editor is also contained./ Répertoire / Quatuor à Cordes

Par DEBUSSY CLAUDE. Debussy's only string quartet, composed in 1893, was his first masterwork. Together with two further works from this creative period, Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune and Pelléas et Mélisande, the quartet established the composer's position as the rising star of the French music scene. Discrepancies existed from the initial publication in 1894 between the score, corrected and seen into print by the composer and the parts, not corrected by him. At a later point, Debussy made a large number of corrections and alterations in a copy of the first edition; these alterations have been incorporated in this Bärenreiter Urtext edition. Thisscholarly-critical edition utilises all sources including the composer's letters, which offer a valuable insight into the genesis of the composition./ Répertoire / Quatuor

Dvorák's 'String Quintet in G major? op. 77, had five movements when it was premiered on 18 March 1876. Its second movement was the 'Intermezzo? from his 'String Quartet in E minor? (1870). Later Dvorák removed this movement from the quintet, expanded it, and published it as a separate 'Notturno? for string orchestra op. 40. The 'Intermezzo? is included in its original version in the appendix of the score.This edition is based on the 'Complete Edition of the Works of Antonín Dvorák?, the principal source being the first edition of 1888, for which Dvorák subjected the work to revision.- Dvorák's famous quintet with double bass- New detailed foreword by Dvorák scholar David Beveridge (Eng/Cz/Ger)- Musical text based on the 'Complete Edition of the Works of Antonín Dvorák? (series IV, vol. 8) / Quatuor A Cordes

Une séquence de la chanson pour voix et quatuor à cordes. Ecrites par Elvis Costello, en réponse à un article décrivant en détail la découverte qu'un universitaire de Véronèse avait été répondant aux lettres adressées à ' Juliette Capulet '. La nature délicate et personnelle du contenu de cette correspondance a inspiré un ensemble de chansons arrangé spécifiquement pour et interprétée par le Quatuor Brodsky merveilleux et poignant. C'est un trompeusement simple et de travail, découvrant toutes les qualités du sens intelligent de Costello de mélodie. / Scores