Par BACEWICZ GRAZYNA. Grazyna Bacewicz realised at a very early age that her main purpose in life was to compose music. Already during the 1920s, as a student of Lódz Conservatoire, as part of her lessons in harmony and counterpoint, she made attempts at composing, in which she tried to resolve nagging technical problems and impart an artistically satisfying form to them. She grew up in an atmosphere of anti-romantic tumult and the emerging neoclassical style. She assimilated the main attributes of that current in a natural way: the need to forge logical formal constructs based on new harmonic principles, not determined by the major–minor system, and also a freedom in the shaping of textures, a fixed element of which was the combining of homophony with more or less strict polyphonic forms. One example of such a strategy is the String Quartet from her student years, signed with the date 1929–1930, which the composer did not include in her official catalogue of works. In the first movement (Allegro moderato), one can distinguish two principal subjects, served in the form of the incomplete exposition of a fugue. The chromaticised first subject, with its strongly highlighted head motif, appears in the cello, with an answer coming four bars later in the first violin. After a short bridge, the first violin intones the second subject, of a different character (dolce), and the answer appears a bar later and an octave lower in the viola. Both subjects can be heard also in the closing coda, and the space between them is filled by counterpoints based largely on ostinato figures of various sorts – a technique that Bacewicz would hone to perfection in her later work. The middle fughetta (Molto adagio), with a subject stated just once, and in only three parts (cello, first violin, viola), acts as an intermezzo. The third movement (Allegro molto moderato) is a double fugue with strongly contrasting subjects. The first subject, in the form of a chromaticised melodic continuum, exposed by the cello, is initially shown with the traditional arrangement retained (answered by the viola and second violin at a fifth, and by the first violin an octave above). The second subject (energico) is a structure shaped by the opening repetition of a motif of perfect fifths, then octaves combined with staccato-tremolo figurations. As the work unfolds, the two subjects appear simultaneously in original and inverted form, coming together in the closing Cadenza in a uniform idea crowned by strong (fff) chords repeated towards the end. - Malgorzata Gasiorowska/ Répertoire / Quatuor à Cordes

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

Par SAMUEL RHIAN. Rhian Samuel's fresh and stimulating vocal and instrumental works have earned her an enviable reputation as a composer willing to tackle challenging subjects and a variety of musical forms. The three contrasting pieces of Blythswood were written at Glaick in Scotland, on the mainland across from Skye, and each one evokes in terms of seascape or memory the idea of the 'distant view'./ Répertoire / Alto et Piano

Par JOUBERT CLAUDE-HENRY. Douze Etudes à écrire soi-même en 1ère et 3e positions Ces études ont plusieurs objectifs : mettre en pratique tous les éléments musicaux et techniques abordés dans les deux premiers volumes de cette méthode. Tous les doigtés ne sont pas indiqués : apprendre à trouver de bons doigtés, en première et troisième positions, est un apprentissage indispensable dès le début des études instrumentales (il n'est pas interdit de se faire aider par son professeur...). - permettre de se lancer dans la composition. La musique XXIe siècle ne sera pas celle des siècles précédents. Il semble important que tous les musiciens, amateurs, professionnels, étudiants, et déjà les élèves, puissent tenter d'écrire leur propre musique. - donner les bases d'une méthode d'analyse. Si l'on veut bien comprendre comment nos illustres aînés ont écrit leurs oeuvres, il convient de questionner leur propre musique. Beaucoup d'aspects de la composition musicale sont abordés dans ces études : formes, carrures, phrases, cadences, mélodie, harmonie, tonalité, modalité... COMPOSER n'est pas une activité réservée aux adultes savants. Le mot 'composer' vient du latin cum-ponere, 'poser avec'. On compose un menu ou un bouquet. Le compositeur de musique ne 'crée' pas, il dispose, à sa façon, les éléments d'un matériau sonore existant. Chaque étude est l'occasion d'un travail de 'com-position', tous les éléments musicaux sont fournis - il suffit de les assembler, chacun à sa manière. Ce sont des exercices très simples, des recettes qui peuvent être modifiées selon les goûts de chacun, comme les recettes de cuisine. Comment faire ' - se munir d'un cahier de musique, d'un crayon, et, surtout, d'une gomme, - jouer tout ce que l'on écrit, et ECOUTER ! - et s'amuser autant que l'auteur de ces études... Claude-Henry Joubert / méthode - études / Méthode / Alto

Par . String duets tend to be somewhat upstaged by other instrumentations for string chamber music?especially string quartets, yet the string duet is an ideal introduction to the world of chamber music for anyone who is learning an instrument. Fabian Payr and Ruth Bamberger have selected 15 suitable harpsichord works from the Baroque period and have arranged them for two string instruments. These easily playable duet pieces are especially appropriate as material for instrumental lessons but also as repertoire for student performances. They encourage the study of Baroque performance practice and promote the somewhat overlooked subject of chamber music ensemble playing. / Date parution : 2022-07-20/ Recueil / Alto et Violoncelle

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