Christmas fiddlers can draw on a rich and varied repertoire. This collection spans seven centuries, from the boisterous medieval Song of the Ass to contemporary tunes like Sleigh ride, taking in such traditional carols as Away in a manger and O little town of Bethlehem along the way. There is music in The Christmas Fiddler from England, Wales, France, Germany and North America.Of course Christmas time is not only a religious festival. Much of the music here - the Welsh carol Deck the hall, the 'fireside' movement from The Four Seaons, the modern classic Chestnuts roasting on an open fire - is as much a celebration of the ancient secular festival of the Winter Solstice.The arrangements in this collection can be performed as solos or duets, or by larger ensembles. The keyboard accompaniments are there for a multitude of purposes, from concert performances to playing at home- and the violin accompaniments will be invaluable for those Christmas busking sessions.The full range of traditional fiddle repertoire is now at your fingertips! Using these generous collections, you can create your own ceilidh, barn dance, jazz club, Sarajevo street-café or Gypsy gathering. Some of this music is familiar, some more exotic, but all of it is absolutely authentic, faithfully arranged and, above all, hugely enjoyable. Each title in the series is available in two formats: the violin edition (with an optional easy violin part and guitar chord)- or the complete edition, which also includes both keyboard and violin accompaniments. Either format is hugely flexible, which means the music can be played as solos, duets or trios as well as with larger ensembles. Edward Huws Jones has travelled extensively researching fiddle-playing traditions. In each book he explains the background of the particular musical style, giving his own suggestions for a lively performance. And to help recreate the spirit of the music, every book in the series is beautifully illustrated. / Violon Et Guitare

Kevin Volans' String Quartet No. 9: Shiva Dances was commissioned by BBC Radio 3 and first performed by the Smith Quartet at the 2004 Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival.Kevin Volans (the composer) notes on the piece:In the past I have been interested in trying to go beyond historicism (1970s) beyond style(1980s) and beyond form (1990s) in my work. Looking back over the music of the twentiethcentury I was struck by the fact the nearlyall of it is extremely 'busy' almost cluttered. Italmost seemed that composers felt compelled to look industrious. In the new millennium Ithought it would be interesting to try and eliminate content. I also aspired to movingfrommusic (sound as art) to art (art as sound). This of course has already been done by a numberof composers (many from New York Phil Niblock and La Monte Young to name but two) butit was something I had never tried.AlthoughI found it annoying that the label 'minimalist' was given to my African-based work and fearing this would make the label stick I set out to write a piece which reflected my loveof minimal painting and architecture. The Japanesehave a term 'wabi' meaning 'voluntarypoverty' or 'emptiness' to describe their restrained minimal aesthetic an aesthetic which however pays greatest attention to the quality of material and fine detail. I like to think thatthelack of excessive pitch material in this piece reflects a kind of voluntary poverty.When Shiva is portrayed dancing (as Nataraj) He is depicted in a circle of flames crushing asmall figure the ego underfoot.You get theimpression He dances on the spot not movingaround at all. I like that.The piece is dedicated to Pablo Pascual Cilleruelo.

All In One for 3 String Quartets was composed by Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen in 2013 (String Quartet No.12 13 and 14 played simultaneously). Gudmundsen-Holmgreen has written a collection of three new string quartets: String Quartet no. 12 ‘Each in Each’; String Quartet no. 13 ‘Mutual Ordering’ and String Quartet no. 14 ‘Well-Tuned Sounds’. Each quartet can be played on its own; they can also played simultaneously in any combination. When all three quartets are played together as they are tonight the combined work is titled All in One. About this collection Gudmundsen-Holmgreenwrites: 'Some years ago Kronos and the vocal group Theatre of Voices performed three new pieces which I had written for the two groups: one for Theatre of Voices (Green) and two for Kronos (New Ground and No Ground). They were played and sung by each group independently – but also both groups together concurrently on top of each other as a final gesture. The combined pieces were called New Ground Green and No Ground Green. 'David liked the idea (and the result) of pairs of quartets that could be played both independently and simultaneously and asked me if the vocal quartet could be transformed into a string quartet. It could not. He then asked me to repeat the whole set-up with a new pair of quartets adding also some percussion instruments as was the case with Green for Theatre of Voices. Of course this was tempting. Furthermore David asked me to make one of the two new quartets a little easier to play. 'I began to work. The Kronos part of the pair of quartets turned out to be tough to play as David puts it. Unfortunately the ‘easier’ one was tough to play also! So I had to write one more which was then a little easier still (but still not easy). 'The three new works can be played separately and on top of each other in many different combinations resulting in different kinds of

For Flute, Clarinet In Bb, Harp, and String Quartet. Par LASH HANNAH. Form and Postlude is a piece in one continuous movement but with a distinct postlude which ends the work. I play throughout with the idea of pacing on many levels: the largest level is the idea of proportion of sections to one another, then harmonic rhythm (in the broad sense), then harmonic rhythm on a more local level, and of course then on the surface of the music there is instrumental texture and how fast the notes go by. Along with this sense of play in terms of the pacing and motion is the idea of color. I love this ensemble, and its palette of color has been part of my DNA, as it were, for many years, because Ravel’s wonderful work Introduction et Allegro is such a cornerstone in the harpist’s repertoire. While composing, I found myself feeling that I was entering into this colorful world that is possible with this combination of instruments, almost as if it were possible to step into a painter’s palette in a real and visceral way, physically interacting with all the different colors. The title Form and Postlude nods to Ravel’s Introduction et Allegro, although my piece lives in its own very distinct space apart from Ravel. – Hannah Lash/ Répertoire / Flûte Traversière, Clarinette, Harpe et Quatuor à

Volume 2-The three pieces that form op 4 Idylle Pastourelle and Virelai were published in 1883 with French titles to add glamour and appeal. All three works feature long attractive melodies with well-developed accompaniments. The pair that form op 13 Mot d’Amour and Bizarrerie are more contrasting in nature. Mot d’Amour was composed to pair with Salut d’Amour but was the less appealing of the two while Bizarrerie has distinct Spanish elements and is suggested by the editor Barry Collett as a fine encore piece.Violin was of course Elgar’s own instrument and the writing is idiomatic and sensitively created for the instrument.

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

Par SCHWEITZER BENJAMIN. The chiaroscuro-technique developed by painters of the Italian renaissance served to intensify contrasts and effects of optical depth. In Klar/Obskur, I tried to transfer the general idea of this technique on the rather unusual instrumentation of two double-reed woodwinds and piano. On the one hand, a clear, well articulated playing is characteristic for these instruments, on the other hand, they have an often underestimated potential of „twilight“: air-sounds and fragile, shady colours have a especially attractive when being produced by double-reed instruments (which are often, and superficially regarded as being less capable of differentiated sounds than flute or clarinet). The piano, too, has a broad bandwidth of possibilities between percussive and delicate playing to complement the woodwinds which, in return, can absorb and continue the fading piano sounds. The beginning introduces the two contrasting elements that form the basic material for the piece: a clear, sharp chord, followed by fragile, dim sounds. The changes between these elements as well as their combination and amalgamation produce an enormous spectrum of colours and gesture. After this „motto-like“ opening follow four quite clearly separated short sections, each of them being characterised by a well-defined texture: a partly almost imperceptible air-sound passage, a short sequence of microintervallic notes, a burst of virtuosity and a recourse to the fragile sounds of the beginning. The second, longer main part consists of three sections merging subtly into each other: a short unisono-passage, marked elastic [federnd], is being dissolved into its basic elements; from these remainders, a confrontation of low, ‚arcane‘ bassoon and piano sounds and a strongly ornamented melodic line of the oboe emerges, leading to a short but powerful climax. The piece is concluded by an extended, relaxed epilogue, containing a short piano solo and a duet of oboe and bassoon and, finally, a quotation of the „elastic“ character of the middle section. Benjamin Schweitzer / Date parution : 2007-11-20/ Répertoire / Hautbois, Basson et Piano

John Luther Adams' Everything That Rises for String Quartet. Composers note: I never imagined I would write a string quartet. Then I heard the JACK Quartet and I understood how Imight be able to make the medium my own. The result was The Wind in High Places - a twenty-minute work composed entirely on natural harmonics and open strings. Over the next few years twomore quartets followed. The second quartet  untouched  is a further exploration of the aeolian sound world of the first. Then in Canticles of the Sky the musicians finally touch the fingerboards of theirinstruments. And now comes Everything That Rises. This fourth quartet is more expansive both in time and in space. It grows out of Sila: The Breath of the World - aperformance-length choral/orchestral work composed on a rising series of sixteen harmonic clouds. Everything That Rises traverses this same territory but in a much more melodic way. Each musician isa soloist playing throughout. They surround the audience. Time floats. Over the course of an hour the lines spin out - always rising - in acoustically perfect intervals that grow progressively smaller as they spiralupward... until the music dissolves into the soft noise of the bows sighing. Duration: 60 minutes

Per Nørgård's Helle Nacht (Light Night) - Violin Concerto No. 1 dating from 1986-87. Programme note: This is my third work for solo string instrument and orchestra the other two being 'Between' for cello and 'Remembering Child' for viola. The title 'Light Night' refers to the caracteristics of each of the four movements. The 'light' translucent quality of the melody sound and rhythm woven into a fine filigree; the Night revealed in the multi-layered possibilities of interpretation like/constantly/changing the aspect of a turning prism with each performing appearing differntly to the listeners. Ofcourse this is more or less the case with every musical work but in HELLE NACHT the ambiguity is made innermost principle. The first and last movements form a symphonic frame for the inner two more static interludes though even in these light is constantly breaking through. I wrote the concerto during 1986-87 at the request of Anton Kontra. Per Nørgård

In 120 Esercizi. Par PERLINI SILVANO. A new method for violin spread over two years that teaches how to use the first, second and third fingers of the left hand from the very first lesson. Over the course of the first year the student learns all the “applications” for the first fourfingers in the first position and the main bow strokes. The first volume contains a brief look at the history and construction of the violin, together with a functional inroduction to the theory of music, plus basic explanations and exercises ideal for practice and revision over the summer holidays. The second volume is split into lessons, each concentrating on a fixed tonality. The two volumes are aimed at students in their first year of Music at Secondary School (Corsi ad Indirizzo Musicale della Scuola Secondaria di 1° grado), but can also beused by other students at any music school and by students at Music Academies. / Etudes et exercices / Date parution : 1905-07-07/ Etude / Violon

Per Clarinetto, Violoncello E Pianoforte. Par CALLIGARIS SERGIO. Sergio Calligaris was born in Rosario (1941), Argentina. He is one of the last musicians to incarnate the traditional 19th century figure of pianist, teacher and composer, inaugurated at the beginning of the 19th century by Muzio Clementi and carriedon after that by a sequence of famous names that the history of music has handed down to us. As a pianist, he began to give public performances at the age of 13, making his debut in his home town Rosario. Following this success, he embarked upon an extremely busy career as a soloist, giving numerous recitals in Buenos Aires and other citiesin Argentina. He continued to take advanced lessons with eminent exponents of the most prestigious international piano schools. In 1974 he became an Italian citizen and settled in Rome, teaching piano as principal instrument at the S. Pietro a Majella StateConservatory in Naples, the Luisa DAnnunzio Conservatory in Pescara and the Alfredo Casella Conservatory in Aquila. As a composer, he began - at just 9 years of age - to study in the rigorous school of Paul Hindemith, under the guidance of Father Luis Machado, from whom he inherited a love of counterpoint and a strong taste for harmony. He took a diploma incomposition, counterpoint and fugue at the age of 16 at the Amigos del Arte Society in Rosario, going on in 1964 to do an advanced course in 12-tone counterpoint at the Cleveland Institute of Music. The catalogue of his compositions, which has nowreached Op. 55, encompasses a huge range of instrumental/vocal chamber music and symphonic works: a vast and articulated catalogue, in which Sergio Calligaris’s composition expresses its inspiration through the dramatic development of a dialecticalcontrast between the two natures of the composer’s personality - the elegiac and the dithyrambic - which confront and interact with each other giving rise to artistic outcomes of a deeply moving nature. / Niveau : Intermédiaire / Répertoire / Clarinette, Violoncelle et Piano

Per Violino E Pianoforte. Par CALLIGARIS SERGIO. Sergio Calligaris was born in Rosario (1941), Argentina. He is one of the last musicians to incarnate the traditional 19th century figure of pianist, teacher and composer, inaugurated at the beginning of the 19th century by Muzio Clementi and carriedon after that by a sequence of famous names that the history of music has handed down to us. As a pianist, he began to give public performances at the age of 13, making his debut in his home town Rosario. Following this success, he embarked upon an extremely busy career as a soloist, giving numerous recitals in Buenos Aires and other citiesin Argentina. He continued to take advanced lessons with eminent exponents of the most prestigious international piano schools. In 1974 he became an Italian citizen and settled in Rome, teaching piano as principal instrument at the S. Pietro a Majella StateConservatory in Naples, the Luisa DAnnunzio Conservatory in Pescara and the Alfredo Casella Conservatory in Aquila. As a composer, he began - at just 9 years of age - to study in the rigorous school of Paul Hindemith, under the guidance of Father Luis Machado, from whom he inherited a love of counterpoint and a strong taste for harmony. He took a diploma incomposition, counterpoint and fugue at the age of 16 at the Amigos del Arte Society in Rosario, going on in 1964 to do an advanced course in 12-tone counterpoint at the Cleveland Institute of Music. The catalogue of his compositions, which has nowreached Op. 55, encompasses a huge range of instrumental/vocal chamber music and symphonic works: a vast and articulated catalogue, in which Sergio Calligaris’s composition expresses its inspiration through the dramatic development of a dialecticalcontrast between the two natures of the composer’s personality - the elegiac and the dithyrambic - which confront and interact with each other giving rise to artistic outcomes of a deeply moving nature. / Niveau : Intermédiaire / Date parution : 1905-06-19/ Répertoire / Violon et Piano