Composed by Christian Mason. World premiere: Paris, Cite de la musique, January 14, 2020. Breitkopf and Haertel #EB 9377. Published by Breitkopf and Haertel

String Quartet or String Orchestra - easy

SKU: BT.DHP-1135315-070

Arranged by Nico Dezaire. De Haske String Orchestra Series. Set (Score and Parts). De Haske Publications #DHP 1135315-070. Published by De Haske Publications (BT.DHP-1135315-070).

ISBN 9789043146814. 9x12 inches. English-German-French-Dut ch.

More Classical Highlights is the follow-up to Classical Highlights, a collection featuring arrangements of classical themes dating from the 17th century up to the19th century. The parts are quite easy and attractively written, but the arrangements stay as faithful as possible to the original works. Baroque music is represented with two highlights: the well-known Canon by Pachelbel may well be the most performed 17th century composition. The power of the piece lies in a bass line of only eight notes, above which the melodic line of the round itself develops. Réjouissance from Music for the Royal Fireworks is a very joyful composition bythe Anglo-German baroque composer Handel. The 18th century classical style gives us the refined minuet by Boccherini, the Italian composer who wrote a wealth of chamber music. The 19th century features in three famous works: the lively Marche Militaire No 1 by the Austrian composer Schubert originates from 3 Marches Militaires for four-handed piano. The Can Can from Orphée aux enfers (Orpheus in the Underworld) is the best-known separately performed piece by the operetta composer Offenbach. Following this exciting dance music there is the beautiful, lofty Largo theme from the second movement of Czech composer Dvorákâ??s From the New World Symphony. In short: Six varying arrangements - challenging and very suitable for performances!

More Classical Highlights is het vervolg op Classical Highlights, een verzameling arrangementen van klassieke thema´s die dateren uit de periode van de 17e eeuw tot en met de 19e eeuw. De partijen zijn eenvoudig en aantrekkelijk geschreven; tegelijkertijd blijven de arrangementen dicht bij het origineel. De barokmuziek is vertegenwoordigd met twee highlights. De bekende Canon van Pachelbel is wellicht de meest gespeelde 17e-eeuwse compositie. De kracht ervan ligt in een baslijn van slechts acht noten waarboven zich het lijnenspel van de canon ontspint. Réjouissance uit Music for the Royal Fireworks is een zeer opgewekte compositie van deDuits-Engelse barokcomponist Händel. De 18e-eeuwse klassieke stijl horen we terug in het verfijnde menuet van Boccherini, een Italiaanse componist die een schat aan kamermuziek schreef. De 19e eeuw komt naar voren in drie beroemde stukken. De uitbundige Marche militaire nr. 1 van de Oostenrijkse componist Schubert komt uit 3 Marches militaires voor vierhandig piano. De Can Can uit Orphée aux enfers (Orpheus in de onderwereld) is het beroemdste afzonderlijk uitgevoerde stuk van de operettecomponist Offenbach. Na deze opzwepende dansmuziek volgt het prachtige, gedragen thema uit het tweede deel van de symfonie Uit de nieuwe wereld met de titel Largo, van de hand van de Tsjechische componist Dvorák. Kortom: zes zeer afwisselende arrangementen, uitdagend en uitermate geschikt voor uitvoeringen!

More Classical Highlights ist die Fortsetzung von Classical Highlights, einer Sammlung von Arrangements klassischer Themen aus der Zeit vom 17. bis zum 19. Jahrhundert. Die Stimmen sind recht einfach gehalten und reizvoll ausgearbeitet; zugleich sind die Arrangements nah an den Originalstu cken. Der Barock ist mit zwei musikalischen Höhepunkten vertreten: Der bekannte Canon von Pachelbel ist vielleicht die meist gespielte Komposition aus dem 17. Jahrhundert. Die Kraft dieses Stu ckes liegt in einer Basslinie aus nur acht Noten, u ber der sich das eigentliche Gefu ge des Kanons entwickelt. Réjouissance aus der Feuerwerksmusik ist einesehr fröhliche Komposition des deutsch-englischen Barockkomponisten Händel. Ein Kleinod der Klassik aus dem 18. Jahrhundert ist das raffinierte Menuett von Boccherini, einem italienischen Komponisten, der einen gro�en Schatz an Kammermusik schrieb. Das 19. Jahrhundert ist mit drei beru hmten Werken vertreten: Der lebhafte Marche militaire No. 1 des �sterreichers Schubert stammt aus 3 Marches militaires fu r Klavier zu vier Händen. Der Can-Can aus Orphée aux enfers (Orpheus in der Unterwelt) ist das beru hmteste separat aufgefu hrte Stu ck des Operettenkomponisten Offenbach. Nach dieser mitrei�enden Tanzmusik folgt ein schönes, erhabenes Thema aus dem zweiten Satz der Sinfonie Aus der Neuen Welt mit dem Titel Largo aus der Feder des tschechischen Komponisten Dvorák.

More Classical Highlights, qui fait suite au recueil Classical Highlights, rassemble une collection dâ??arrangements de thèmes classiques couvrant une période de trois siècles, du XVIIe au XIXe siècle. Les diverses parties instrumentales sont faciles et agréables jouer, mais les arrangements restent néanmoins fidèles aux compositions originales. La musique baroque est représentée par deux oeuvres toujours appréciées. Parmi toutes les compositions du XVIIe siècle, le célèbre Canon de Pachelbel est peut-être celle que lâ??on entend le plus souvent. Sa puissance réside dans une simple ligne de basse de huit notes par-dessus laquelle se développe le motif ducanon lui-même. Réjouissance, tirée de Music for the Royal Fireworks, est une pièce très enjouée du compositeur baroque anglo-allemand Haendel. Le style classique du XVIIIe siècle est inclus sous la forme dâ??un élégant menuet de Boccherini, un compositeur italien qui a écrit une quantité de musique de chambre. Le XIXe siècle est évoqué par trois oeuvres célèbres. La dynamique Marche militaire n° 1, du compositeur autrichien Schubert, extrait des Trois marches militaires pour piano quatre mains. Le Cancan dâ??Orphée aux enfers est la plus connue des oeuvres dâ??Offenbach, célèbre pour ses opérettes. Cette danse endiablée est suivie du Largo, admirable thème du deuxième mouvement de la Symphonie du Nouveau Monde, du compositeur tchèque Dvorák. En résumé : six arrangements variés, stimulants et parfaits pour être interprétés en concert !

String Quartet (fem vce - str quar - electronics (tape) and projection of lyrics ad lib.)

SKU: BR.KM-2483-07

Holderlin lesen IV. Composed by Hans Zender. Chamber music; stapled. Kammermusik-Bibliothek (Chamber Music Library). Music post-1945; New music (post-2000). Study Score. Composed 2000. 56 pages. Duration 40'. Breitkopf and Haertel #KM 2483-07. Published by Breitkopf and Haertel (BR.KM-2483-07).

ISBN 9790004502587. 9 x 12 inches.

Friedrich HolderlinMnemosyne Ein Zeichen sind wir, deutungslos,Schmerzlos sind wir und haben fastDie Sprache in der Fremde verloren.Wenn namlich uber MenschenEin Streit ist an dem Himmel und gewaltigDie Monde gehn, so redetDas Meer auch und Strome mussenDen Pfad sich suchen. ZweifellosIst aber Einer, derKann taglich es andern. Kaum bedarf erGesetz. Und es tonet das Blatt und Eichbaume wehn dann nebenDen Firnen. Denn nicht vermogenDie Himmlischen alles. Namlich es reichenDie Sterblichen eh an den Abgrund. Also wendet es sich, das Echo,Mit diesen. Lang istDie Zeit, es ereignet sich aberDas Wahre. Wie aber Liebes? SonnenscheinAm Boden sehen wir und trockenen StaubUnd heimatlich die Schatten der Walder und es bluhetAn Dachern der Rauch, bei alter KroneDer Turme, friedsam; gut sind namlich,Hat gegenredend die SeeleEin Himmlisches verwundet, die Tageszeichen.Denn Schnee, wie MaienblumenDas Edelmutige, woEs seie, bedeutend, glanzet aufDer grunen WieseDer Alpen, halftig, da, vom Kreuze redend, dasGesetzt ist unterwegs einmalGestorbenen, auf hoher StrassEin Wandersmann geht zornigFern ahnend mitDem andern, aber was ist dies?Am Feigenbaum ist meinAchilles mir gestorben,Und Ajax liegtAn den Grotten der See,An Bachen, benachbart dem Skamandros.An Schlafen Sausen einst, nachDer unbewegten Salamis steterGewohnheit, in der Fremd, ist grossAjax gestorben,Patroklos aber in des Koniges Harnisch. Und es starbenNoch andere viel. Am Kitharon aber lagEleuthera, der Mnemosyne Stadt. Der auch, alsAblegte den Mantel Gott, das Abendliche nachher losteDie Locken. Himmlische namlich sindUnwillig, wenn einer nicht die Seele schonend sichZusammengenommen, aber er muss doch; demGleich fehlet die TrauerIn meinen Holderlin lesen-Stucken ging es mir darum, Wege zu finden, die gewaltigen Sprachstrukturen Holderlins so in die zeitliche Form der Musik zu integrieren, dass sie Funktionen der musikalischen Form ubernehmen, ohne in ihrer Eigenkraft (sowohl akustisch wie auch im Sinne expressiver ,,Deutung) im geringsten geschmalert zu werden. Das hiess zunachst: Sprechen, nicht singen! - Aber das wurde nur bedeuten, dass es nicht um die Musikalisierung von Text geht; ebenso wichtig ist es, dass es auch nicht um melodramatisch ,,erzahlende Musik geht. Sondern: Zwei autonome Kunste durchdringen sich auf diaphane Weise, ohne sich zu uberformen oder auszuloschen; es handelt sich um einen Dialog, nicht um eine Vereinnahmung durch Hierarchisierung.Sind wir uns selbst zu einem ,,Zeichen...deutungslos geworden, wie es Holderlins Anfangszeilen sagen, so erscheinen auch die Zeichen, die wir selber setzen, sich immer mehr einer Deutbarkeit zu entziehen. Mein Stuck, das den vollstandigen Text von Holderlins Mnemosyne integriert, stellt auf seine Weise die Frage nach dem ,,Zeichen. ,,Was ist dies? Klang? Wort? Schrift? Wie sind die Grenzen, die Ubergange, die gegenseitigen Beeinflussungen der einzelnen Zeichenregionen? Was liegt ihnen zugrunde? Worte und musikalische Zeichen bewegen sich im Medium der Zeit; Schriftzeichen erscheinen zunachst als Verraumlichung, aber man muss daran erinnern, dass der Vorgang des Schreibens - wie er in der ostasiatischen Kalligraphie zu hochster Kunst entwickelt wurde - auch zeitlichen Charakter hat. Mnemosyne - die Kraft des Sich-Erinnerns - schafft die Zeichen, indem sie Gestalten durch Wiederholung fixiert und so aus dem endlosen Fluss der wahrgenommenen Vorgange herauslost. Die so entstehende artikulierte Zeit schafft wiederum durch das Wechselspiel von fixierten und sich bewegenden Gestalten das Bewusstsein fur differenzierte Formablaufe. Der Formverlauf meines Stuckes zeichnet solche genetischen Prozesse nach. Der Horer wird schnell merken, dass die Wortzeichen oft einer zuerst erscheinenden musikalischen Klangwelt entspringen (ich stimme Walter Benjamin zu, wenn er sagt, dass die Sprache in ihrer grundlegenden Schicht expressiven - und nicht darstellenden - Charakter hat). Die Schrift auf der Leinwand folgt zunachst den sprachlichen Aktionen der Stimme, erhalt dann aber auch eigene Teile der Form zugeteilt, in der sie sich als autonomes Zeichen darstellt. In der durch die drei Strophen Holderlins notwendigerweise dreiteiligen Gesamtform gibt es immer wieder Abschnitte, in denen entweder das musikalische Geschehen oder die Sprachzeichen des Gedichtes oder das Sich-Schreiben der Schrift im Vordergrund stehen; der Komponist versteht sich also hier auch als ,,Zusammensetzer der in unserer Wahrnehmung so verschieden besetzten Zeiten des Schreibens, Sprechens und Musikhorens. Es bilden sich im Verlauf des 40-minutigen Stuckes auch Grenzfalle, wie ,,stumme Musik oder total musikalisierte - ihrer Verstehbarkeit beraubte - Textrezitation. Auch das Singen von Text - in meinen bisherigen Holderlinstucken strikt vermieden - wird als ausserste Moglichkeit gegen Ende des formalen Prozesses zugelassen. An einigen Stellen zeigt die Musik sozusagen direkt auf sich selbst. Es sind Formzustande, die ich in meinem ,,Shir Hashirim als ,,Koan bezeichnet habe: ,,endlose Wiederholungen einer zeichenhaften Konstellation, bei jeder Wiederholung minimal verandert - so wie ein Kalligraph sein Schriftzeichen bei jedem Malvorgang unwillkurlich verandert und neu schafft. Steht im ersten Teil der Grossform der Aspekt des Abstrakten, des Unsinnlichen im Vordergrund, so wird im zweiten Teil Bildhaftigkeit als Eigenschaft nicht nur der Sprache, sondern auch der Musik betont: die Landschaft, halb schnee - halb blutenbedeckt, die der Wanderer ,,zornig durchstreift. Am Ende dieses Teils wird das Schriftbild selber zur Landschaft, die der Leser/Horer durchwandert. Er wird im dritten Teil durch einen Verwandlungsprozess zu den ekstatischen Ursprungen des holderlinschen Dichtens gefuhrt, und damit zur explizit musikalischen Ebene: Die Totenklage um Hektor und Ajax wird zum ,,dithyrambischen Tanz, wie es Holderlins Schlusszeile entwirft: ,,... darum fehlet die Trauer. Es bleibt noch nachzutragen, dass ich den in der Stuttgarter Ausgabe der Werke Holderlins in drei Versionen abgedruckten Text in einer Mischversion verwendet habe: die erste Strophe aus der 2. Fassung, die zweite mit Abweichungen und Widerspruchen aus allen drei Fassungen, und die dritte Strophe aus der 3. Fassung. (Hans Zender) CD:Salome Kammer (voice), Klangforum Wien, cond. Hans ZenderKairos 0012522KAIBibliography:Al lwardt, Ingrid: Nach-Lese. Holderlins Gesang im Resonanzraum der Musik Hans Zenders, in: Hans Zender. Vielstimmig in sich, hrsg. von Werner Grunzweig, Jorn Peter Hiekel und Anouk Jeschke (= Archive zur Musik des 20. und 21. Jahrhunderts, Band 12), Hofheim: Wolke 2008, pp. 43-60.Fuhrmann, Wolfgang: Zender lesen. Die Frage nach dem Zeichen in ,,Mnemosyne, in: ,,Ein Zeichen sind wir, deutungslos. Holderlin lesen, Ikkyu Sojun horen, Musik denken, hrsg. von Violetta L. Waibel, Gottingen: Wallstein 2020, S. 194-211Pragungen im Pluralismus. Hans Zender im Gesprach mit Jorn Peter Hiekel, in: Orientierungen. Wege im Pluralismus der Gegenwartsmusik, hrsg. von Jorn Peter Hiekel (= Veroffentlichungen des Instituts fur Neue Musik und Musikerziehung Darmstadt, Band 47), Mainz u. a.: Schott 2007, pp. 130-137.Mosch, Ulrich: Ultrachromatik und Mikrotonalitat. Hans Zenders Grundlegung einer neuen Harmonik, in: Hans Zender. Vielstimmig in sich, hrsg. von Werner Grunzweig, Jorn Peter Hiekel und Anouk Jeschke (= Archive zur Musik des 20. und 21. Jahrhunderts, Band 12), Hofheim: Wolke 2008, pp. 61-76.Schmidt, Dorte: Erfahrung und Erinnerung. Kompositorisches Material zwischen Klang und Bedeutung in der Kammermusik des spaten 20. Jahrhunderts, in: Mnemosyne. Zeit und Gedachtnis in der europaischen Musik des ausgehenden 20. Jahrhunderts, hrsg. von Dorothea Redepenning und Joachim Steinheuer, Saarbrucken: Pfau 2006, pp. 41-58.Zenck, Martin: Holderlin lesen seiner Stimme zuhoren. Holderlin-Lekturen von Klaus Michael Gruber, Hans Zender und Bruno Ganz, in: Neue Zeitschrift fur Musik 172 (2011), Heft 6, pp. 25-29.Zender, Hans: Zu meinem Zyklus Holderlin lesen, in: Mnemosyne. Zeit und Gedachtnis in der europaischen Musik des ausgehenden 20. Jahrhunderts, hrsg. von Dorothea Redepenning und Joachim Steinheuer, Saarbrucken: Pfau 2006, pp. 26-40.

World premiere: Witten (Wittener Tage fur neue Kammermusik), May 4, 2001.

Chamber Music String Quartet

SKU: PR.144407270

Composed by Sydney F. Hodkinson. Sws. Set of Score and Parts. 44+16+16+16+16 pages. Duration 22 minutes. Merion Music #144-40727. Published by Merion Music (PR.144407270).

UPC: 680160681891. 9 x 12 inches.

My Eighth and Ninth String Quartets, begun in late 2017, are sonic cousins. Akin to real cousins, each piece exhibits differing natures. They were requested by two ensembles that have become asecond familiesa to me: The Jupiter Quartet of Urbana, Illinois and the Amernet Quartet based in Miami, Florida. Their collective dedication to, and care for, our art remains a personal and constant are-fuelinga for me. The quartets were commissioned by, and dedicated to, Margaret and Philip Verleger of Denver, Colorado. Additional financial support was provided by the School of Music at Stetson University, Timothy Peter, Dean. Quartet No.8 is laid out in a classical four-movement design. The work does break somewhat from conventional tradition by often placing quartet members into soloistic roles as the movement titles note. individual The opening piece presents at the outset a three-note motto which is turned over, tumbled, and energetically discussed, primarily by a violin duet. It is a duel. The two players part company only infrequently during the movement's progress, pausing briefly for other commentary by their alower cohortsa, the Viola and Cello do not argue, but abet their friends' aeffortsa. The piece's overall character is fairly bright and dancelike, closing in an unresolvedastandoffa. not Two principal asound-objectsa stitch the second movement scherzo together: sliding hands (glissandos) and a plucked ashufflea (pizzicato) - both instigated by the (solo) cellist. The others are influenced - or are not - by their aleadera, and follow - or interrupt - the cello throughout their four-voiced conversation. The third movement (longest of the set) is an elegy dedicated to the memory of a close personal friend, the American composer David Maslanka (1943 - 2017). Its' genesis is a simple 5-note melody derived from my own name (SaC/DaC/EaC/H). This line commences in the (solo) viola and is obsessively uttered without relief during the movement's lamentations. The closing movement revisits much of that opening three-note material, but now dressed up for the full quartet to view. It is a slowly accelerating romp which - twice - cannot avoid a nod to the Amernet and Jupiter performers by offering a humble bow to the 4th movement of Gustav Holst's PLANETS - Jupiter: The Bringer of Jollity. My quartet serves as an honouring salute of thanks for the talent, respect, and friendship of these two young quartets. STRING QUARTET No. 8 is roughly 22 minutes in duration. It was written as an homage to Franz Joseph Haydn, my adesert-island-composera, and completed in Holly Hill, Florida in early April of 2019. S.H.

Chamber Music String Quartet

SKU: PR.14440727S

Composed by Sydney F. Hodkinson. Sws. Full score. 44 pages. Duration 22 minutes. Merion Music #144-40727S. Published by Merion Music (PR.14440727S).

UPC: 680160681907. 9 x 12 inches.

My Eighth and Ninth String Quartets, begun in late 2017, are sonic cousins. Akin to real cousins, each piece exhibits differing natures. They were requested by two ensembles that have become asecond familiesa to me: The Jupiter Quartet of Urbana, Illinois and the Amernet Quartet based in Miami, Florida. Their collective dedication to, and care for, our art remains a personal and constant are-fuelinga for me. The quartets were commissioned by, and dedicated to, Margaret and Philip Verleger of Denver, Colorado. Additional financial support was provided by the School of Music at Stetson University, Timothy Peter, Dean. Quartet No.8 is laid out in a classical four-movement design. The work does break somewhat from conventional tradition by often placing quartet members into soloistic roles as the movement titles note. individual The opening piece presents at the outset a three-note motto which is turned over, tumbled, and energetically discussed, primarily by a violin duet. It is a duel. The two players part company only infrequently during the movement's progress, pausing briefly for other commentary by their alower cohortsa, the Viola and Cello do not argue, but abet their friends' aeffortsa. The piece's overall character is fairly bright and dancelike, closing in an unresolvedastandoffa. not Two principal asound-objectsa stitch the second movement scherzo together: sliding hands (glissandos) and a plucked ashufflea (pizzicato) - both instigated by the (solo) cellist. The others are influenced - or are not - by their aleadera, and follow - or interrupt - the cello throughout their four-voiced conversation. The third movement (longest of the set) is an elegy dedicated to the memory of a close personal friend, the American composer David Maslanka (1943 - 2017). Its' genesis is a simple 5-note melody derived from my own name (SaC/DaC/EaC/H). This line commences in the (solo) viola and is obsessively uttered without relief during the movement's lamentations. The closing movement revisits much of that opening three-note material, but now dressed up for the full quartet to view. It is a slowly accelerating romp which - twice - cannot avoid a nod to the Amernet and Jupiter performers by offering a humble bow to the 4th movement of Gustav Holst's PLANETS - Jupiter: The Bringer of Jollity. My quartet serves as an honouring salute of thanks for the talent, respect, and friendship of these two young quartets. STRING QUARTET No. 8 is roughly 22 minutes in duration. It was written as an homage to Franz Joseph Haydn, my adesert-island-composera, and completed in Holly Hill, Florida in early April of 2019. S.H.

Chamber Music String Quartet

SKU: PR.14440265S

Composed by Sydney F. Hodkinson. Large Score. With Standard notation. Duration 25 minutes. Merion Music #144-40265S. Published by Merion Music (PR.14440265S).

UPC: 680160027910.

The Second and Third Quartets were conceived at the same time; indeed, their composition intermingled, over half of No. 3 being sketched before No. 2 was completed. Accordingly, they share similar material but, like the intertwining blood of cousins, their natures differ: No. 2 being somewhat acerbic and declamatory, No. 3 more lyric and gentler. An annunicatory 'leaping motive' (derived from a motto generated by my name) opens Quartet No. 2 and inhabits the course of the piece as a cyclical binding-force. A five-note motive, usually very deliberate, also keeps recurring like an insistent caller. All three movements are based on tonal centers (I on B and E, II on D, III on C) and the harmonic 'grammar' spoken tends to recall the jazz world of my youth. To hopefully achieve a certain classical ambience was one of the goals of this piece, and all three movements have traditional forms. The first movement is a modified Sonata-Allegro design, with a severely-truncated recapitulation balanced by a lengthy, and decaying Coda. The second movement is a set of strophic variants and an epilogue interspersed with both solo ritornelli and first-movement material (the motto and the five-note motive) in the nature of a fantasia-like 'call-and-response.' It is dedicated to the memory of the American mezzo-soprano Jan DeGaetani. The third movement is a modified Rondo (ABACBA) which evolves out of the opening motto. All three movements make much use of canonic stretti, similar gestures, and repetition. For example, the climax of movement III's Rondo throws the first movement back at us again, as if the players were reluctant to let it go, so that the entire piece could perhaps be viewed as a single large, extended, Sonata movement, with introduction and Coda.
The Second and Third Quartets were conceived at the same time; indeed, their composition intermingled, over half of No. 3 being sketched before No. 2 was completed.  Accordingly, they share similar material but, like the intertwining blood of cousins, their natures differ: No. 2 being somewhat acerbic and declamatory, No. 3 more lyric and gentler.An annunicatory ‘leaping motive’ (derived from a motto generated by my name) opens Quartet No. 2 and inhabits the course of the piece as a cyclical binding-force.  A five-note motive, usually very deliberate, also keeps recurring like an insistent caller.  All three movements are based on tonal centers (I on B and E, II on D, III on C) and the harmonic ‘grammar’ spoken tends to recall the jazz world of my youth.To hopefully achieve a certain classical ambience was one of the goals of this piece, and all three movements have traditional forms.  The first movement is a modified Sonata-Allegro design, with a severely-truncated recapitulation balanced by a lengthy, and decaying Coda.  The second movement is a set of strophic variants and an epilogue interspersed with both solo ritornelli and first-movement material (the motto and the five-note motive) in the nature of a fantasia-like ‘call-and-response. ’  It is dedicated to the memory of the American mezzo-soprano Jan DeGaetani.  The third movement is a modified Rondo (ABACBA) which evolves out of the opening motto.All three movements make much use of canonic stretti, similar gestures, and repetition.  For example, the climax of movement III’s Rondo throws the first movement back at us again, as if the players were reluctant to let it go, so that the entire piece could perhaps be viewed as a single large, extended, Sonata movement, with introduction and Coda.

String quartet String Quartet

SKU: PR.16400272S

Cassatt. Composed by Dan Welcher. Premiere: Cassatt Quartet, Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, IL. Contemporary. Full score. With Standard notation. Composed 2007. WRT11142. 52 pages. Duration 24 minutes. Theodore Presser Company #164-00272S. Published by Theodore Presser Company (PR.16400272S).

UPC: 680160588442. 8.5 x 11 inches.

My third quartet is laid out in a three-movement structure, with each movement based on an early, middle, and late work of the great American impressionist painter Mary Cassatt. Although the movements are separate, with full-stop endings, the music is connected by a common scale-form, derived from the name MARY CASSATT, and by a recurring theme that introduces all three movements. I see this theme as Mary's Theme, a personality that stays intact while undergoing gradual change.   I The Bacchante (1876) [Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]   The painting shows a young girl of Italian or Spanish origin, playing a small pair of cymbals. Since Cassatt was trying very hard to fit in at the French Academy at the time, she painted a lot of these subjects, which were considered typical and universal. The style of the painting doesn't yet show Cassatt's originality, except perhaps for certain details in the face. Accordingly the music for this movement is Spanish/Italian, in a similar period-style but using the musical signature described above. The music begins with Mary's Theme, ruminative and slow, then abruptly changes to an alla Spagnola-type fast 3/4 - 6/8 meter. It evokes the Spanish-influenced music of Ravel and Falla.   Midway through, there's an accompanied recitative for the viola, which figures large in this particular movement, then back to a truncated recapitulation of the fast music. The overall feeling is of a well-made, rather conventional movement in a contemporary Spanish/Italian style. Cassatt's painting, too, is rather conventional.   II At the Opera (1880) [Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts]   This painting is one of Cassatt's most well known works, and it hangs in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The painting shows a woman alone in a box at the opera house, completely dressed (including gloves) and looking through opera glasses at someone or something that is NOT on the stage. Across the auditorium from her, but exactly at eye level, is a gentleman with opera glasses intently watching her - though it is not him that she's looking at. It's an intriguing picture.   This movement is far less conventional than the first movement, as the painting is far less conventional. The music begins with a rapid, Shostakovich-type mini-overture lasting less than a minute, based on Mary's Theme. My conjecture is that the woman in the painting has arrived late to the opera, busily stumbling into her box. What happens next is a kind of collage, a kind of surrealistic overlaying of two different elements: the foreground music, at first is a direct quotation of Soldier's Chorus from Gounod's FAUST (an opera Cassatt would certainly have heard in the brand-new Paris Opera House at that time), played by Violin II, Viola, and Cello. This music is played sul ponticello in the melody and col legno in the marching accompaniment. On top of this, the first violin hovers at first on a high harmonic, then descends into a slow melody, completely separate from the Gounod. It's as if the woman in the painting is hearing the opera onstage but is not really interested in it. Then the cello joins the first violin in a kind of love-duet (just the two of them, at first). This music isn't at all Gounod-derived; it's entirely from the same scale patterns as the first movement and derives from Mary's Theme and its scale. The music stays in a kind of dichotomy feeling, usually three-against-one, until the end of the movement, when another Gounod melody, Valentin's aria Avant de quitter ce lieux reappears in a kind of coda for all four players. It ends atmospherically and emotionally disconnected, however. The overall feeling is a kind of schizophrenic, opera-inspired dream.   III Young Woman in Green, Outdoors in the Sun (1909) [Worcester Art Museum, Massachusetts]   The painting, one of Cassatt's last, is very simple: just a figure, looking sideways out of the picture. The colors are pastel and yet bold - and the woman is likewise very self-assured and not in the least demure. It is eight minutes long, and is all about melody - three melodies, to be exact (Young Woman, Green, and Sunlight). No angst, no choppy rhythms, just ever-unfolding melody and lush harmonies. I quote one other French composer here, too: Debussy's song Green, from Ariettes Oubliees. 1909 would have been Debussy's heyday in Paris, and it makes perfect sense musically as well as visually to do this.   Mary Cassatt lived her last several years in near-total blindness, and as she lost visual acuity, her work became less sharply defined - something akin to late water lilies of Monet, who suffered similar vision loss. My idea of making this movement entirely melodic was compounded by having each of the three melodies appear twice, once in a pure form, and the second time in a more diffuse setting. This makes an interesting two ways form: A-B-C-A1-B1-C1.   String Quartet No.3 (Cassatt) is dedicated, with great affection and respect, to the Cassatt String Quartet, whose members have dedicated themselves in large measure to the furthering of the contemporary repertoire for quartet.

Chamber Music String Quartet

SKU: PR.164002720

Cassatt. Composed by Dan Welcher. Spiral and Saddle. Premiere: Cassatt Quartet, Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, IL. Contemporary. Set of Score and Parts. With Standard notation. Composed 2007. WRT11142. 52+16+16+16+16 pages. Duration 24 minutes. Theodore Presser Company #164-00272. Published by Theodore Presser Company (PR.164002720).

UPC: 680160573042. 8.5 x 11 inches.

My third quartet is laid out in a three-movement structure, with each movement based on an early, middle, and late work of the great American impressionist painter Mary Cassatt. Although the movements are separate, with full-stop endings, the music is connected by a common scale-form, derived from the name MARY CASSATT, and by a recurring theme that introduces all three movements. I see this theme as Mary's Theme, a personality that stays intact while undergoing gradual change.   I The Bacchante (1876) [Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]   The painting shows a young girl of Italian or Spanish origin, playing a small pair of cymbals. Since Cassatt was trying very hard to fit in at the French Academy at the time, she painted a lot of these subjects, which were considered typical and universal. The style of the painting doesn't yet show Cassatt's originality, except perhaps for certain details in the face. Accordingly the music for this movement is Spanish/Italian, in a similar period-style but using the musical signature described above. The music begins with Mary's Theme, ruminative and slow, then abruptly changes to an alla Spagnola-type fast 3/4 - 6/8 meter. It evokes the Spanish-influenced music of Ravel and Falla.   Midway through, there's an accompanied recitative for the viola, which figures large in this particular movement, then back to a truncated recapitulation of the fast music. The overall feeling is of a well-made, rather conventional movement in a contemporary Spanish/Italian style. Cassatt's painting, too, is rather conventional.   II At the Opera (1880) [Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts]   This painting is one of Cassatt's most well known works, and it hangs in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The painting shows a woman alone in a box at the opera house, completely dressed (including gloves) and looking through opera glasses at someone or something that is NOT on the stage. Across the auditorium from her, but exactly at eye level, is a gentleman with opera glasses intently watching her - though it is not him that she's looking at. It's an intriguing picture.   This movement is far less conventional than the first movement, as the painting is far less conventional. The music begins with a rapid, Shostakovich-type mini-overture lasting less than a minute, based on Mary's Theme. My conjecture is that the woman in the painting has arrived late to the opera, busily stumbling into her box. What happens next is a kind of collage, a kind of surrealistic overlaying of two different elements: the foreground music, at first is a direct quotation of Soldier's Chorus from Gounod's FAUST (an opera Cassatt would certainly have heard in the brand-new Paris Opera House at that time), played by Violin II, Viola, and Cello. This music is played sul ponticello in the melody and col legno in the marching accompaniment. On top of this, the first violin hovers at first on a high harmonic, then descends into a slow melody, completely separate from the Gounod. It's as if the woman in the painting is hearing the opera onstage but is not really interested in it. Then the cello joins the first violin in a kind of love-duet (just the two of them, at first). This music isn't at all Gounod-derived; it's entirely from the same scale patterns as the first movement and derives from Mary's Theme and its scale. The music stays in a kind of dichotomy feeling, usually three-against-one, until the end of the movement, when another Gounod melody, Valentin's aria Avant de quitter ce lieux reappears in a kind of coda for all four players. It ends atmospherically and emotionally disconnected, however. The overall feeling is a kind of schizophrenic, opera-inspired dream.   III Young Woman in Green, Outdoors in the Sun (1909) [Worcester Art Museum, Massachusetts]   The painting, one of Cassatt's last, is very simple: just a figure, looking sideways out of the picture. The colors are pastel and yet bold - and the woman is likewise very self-assured and not in the least demure. It is eight minutes long, and is all about melody - three melodies, to be exact (Young Woman, Green, and Sunlight). No angst, no choppy rhythms, just ever-unfolding melody and lush harmonies. I quote one other French composer here, too: Debussy's song Green, from Ariettes Oubliees. 1909 would have been Debussy's heyday in Paris, and it makes perfect sense musically as well as visually to do this.   Mary Cassatt lived her last several years in near-total blindness, and as she lost visual acuity, her work became less sharply defined - something akin to late water lilies of Monet, who suffered similar vision loss. My idea of making this movement entirely melodic was compounded by having each of the three melodies appear twice, once in a pure form, and the second time in a more diffuse setting. This makes an interesting two ways form: A-B-C-A1-B1-C1.   String Quartet No.3 (Cassatt) is dedicated, with great affection and respect, to the Cassatt String Quartet, whose members have dedicated themselves in large measure to the furthering of the contemporary repertoire for quartet.