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

Score + Parties. Par BRAHMS JOHANNES. Bärenreiter's scholarly-critical edition of Brahms' popular Quintet in F minor for piano and strings contains everything a cutting edge Urtext edition is meant to offer. It presents a solid and wellresearched musical text based on Brahms' autograph as well as the first edition, and draws on the autograph of the two-piano version (composed six years later) for purposes of comparison. The edition also contains a discussion of the work's historical context and performance practice as well as a comprehensive Critical Commentary with an evaluation of the sources and alternative readings. The editor, Daniel Boomhower, deals with the conflicting readings between the string parts in the autograph engraver's copy and those found in small print in the first published score as well as in the separate parts for that edition. Relevant readings from the two-piano version appear in the appendix of the Critical Commentary. - New Bärenreiter Urtext edition - Exhaustive study of conflicting readings - Notes on performance practice (Eng/Ger) - Informative Foreword (Eng/Ger) and Critical Commentary (Eng)descriptive text to this edition will be provided on December 20./ Répertoire / Violon (2), Alto, Violoncelle, Piano

Par JANACEK LEOS. Janácek's 2nd String Quartet, Intimate Letters, is regarded as a highlight of the modern string quartet literature. It was written during the composer’s last year of life, between 29 January and 19 February 1928, inspired by the ageing Janáèek's exceptional love for Kamila Stösslová. The Moravian Quartet devoted themselves to this impressive work; Janácek attended a total of three of their rehearsals in May and June 1928. This had several consequences, including his abandoning his original idea of using a viola d'amore. After Janácek's unexpected death (12 August 1928) the uncertain genesis of the work became the greatest problem of the IntimateLetters : the surviving copies were not definitively authorised. The editors of this new edition have reverted to Janácek's autograph sketches as the main, most reliable source and using these as a basis, have reconstructed the work as it stood at the point of Janácek's death. The musical text, taken from the Critical Complete Edition of the Works of Leoš Janácek (Vol. E/4), therefore contains clear differences in comparison with older editions./ Répertoire / Quatuor à Cordes

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

Last Night of the Proms 'A sans que cela mars - impensable! 'Pomp and Circumstance militaire Mars n 1', avec sa section du milieu, le 'Land of Hope and Glory 'hymne comme par Edward Elgar (1857-1934), appartient à la finale de l'événement musical de Londres comme le Mars Radetzky habituellement joué que la dernière pièce de Concert du Nouvel An de l'Orchestre philharmonique de Vienne. La renommée et la popularité des quatre autres marches militaires composées par Elgar entre 1901 et 1907 fade en comparaison de cet hymne secret national de Grande-Bretagne (bien que fortement concurrencé par 'Rule, Britannia!). Il est, en effet, une pièce tout aussi vibrant et accrocheur de la musique, et la mélodie entraînante au milieu vient de devenir un classique 'touché'. Merci à la présente édition, tous ceux qui n'ont pas un grand orchestre symphonique à la maison peuvent maintenant jouer ce mois de mars réveiller par eux-mêmes. / Alto Et Piano

Par ZEMLINSKY ALEXANDER. La musique d’Alexander Zemlinsky est longtemps injustement restée dans l’ombre de la deuxième École de Vienne, considérée comme «plus progressiste». Certes, Zemlinsky était amicalement très proche de l’une des personnalités les plus en vue de cette école, Arnold Schönberg, mais il n’a jamais franchi le pas de la radicalité dodécaphonique. Il n’en composa pas pour autant des œuvres moins originales ou moins personnelles. Et c’est justement son deuxième Quatuor à cordes, élaboré dans les années 1913-1915, qui conduisit la forme et la tonalité, telles qu’on se les représentait alors, jusqu’à leurs dernières limites. L’œuvre, en un seul mouvement, mais qui comprend plus de 1200 mesures, est d’une grande diversité, et fait partie des contributions les plus frappantes de son époque; elle avait depuis longtemps besoin d’une nouvelle édition critique. L’édition Urtext de la maison Henle corrige un grand nombre de fautes et d’imprécisions figurant dans l’édition originale, qui apparurent lors de la comparaison minutieuse faite avec les sources manuscrites autographes de Vienne et de Washington. Même les indications métronomiques transmises par Zemlinsky dans une seule correspondance épistolaire ont été pour la première fois prises en considération. Ces travaux éditoriaux ont été aimablement soutenus par le Fonds Alexander Zemlinsky de Vienne./ Répertoire / Quatuor à Cordes

Par ZEMLINSKY ALEXANDER. La musique d’Alexander Zemlinsky est longtemps injustement restée dans l’ombre de la deuxième École de Vienne, considérée comme «plus progressiste». Certes, Zemlinsky était amicalement très proche de l’une des personnalités les plus en vue de cette école, Arnold Schönberg, mais il n’a jamais franchi le pas de la radicalité dodécaphonique. Il n’en composa pas pour autant des œuvres moins originales ou moins personnelles. Et c’est justement son deuxième Quatuor à cordes, élaboré dans les années 1913-1915, qui conduisit la forme et la tonalité, telles qu’on se les représentait alors, jusqu’à leurs dernières limites. L’œuvre, en un seul mouvement, mais qui comprend plus de 1200 mesures, est d’une grande diversité, et fait partie des contributions les plus frappantes de son époque; elle avait depuis longtemps besoin d’une nouvelle édition critique. L’édition Urtext de la maison Henle corrige un grand nombre de fautes et d’imprécisions figurant dans l’édition originale, qui apparurent lors de la comparaison minutieuse faite avec les sources manuscrites autographes de Vienne et de Washington. Même les indications métronomiques transmises par Zemlinsky dans une seule correspondance épistolaire ont été pour la première fois prises en considération. Ces travaux éditoriaux ont été aimablement soutenus par le Fonds Alexander Zemlinsky de Vienne./ Répertoire / Quatuor à Cordes