She's Always A Woman Quatuor à cordes: 2 violons, alto, violoncelle [Conducteur et Parties séparées] - Intermédiaire De Haske Publications
String Quartet - intermediate SKU: BT.DHP-1115206-070 Composed by Billy J...(+)
String Quartet -
intermediate
SKU:
BT.DHP-1115206-070
Composed by Billy Joel.
Arranged by Anthony
Gröger. De Haske Pops
for String Quartet. Pop &
Rock. Set (Score &
Parts). Composed 2011. 12
pages. De Haske
Publications #DHP
1115206-070. Published by
De Haske Publications
(BT.DHP-1115206-070).
ISBN 9789043149297.
9x12 inches.
English-German-French-Dut
ch.
De Haske's
best-selling Pops for
String Quartet series
offers excellent
arrangements for
intermediate string
quartets who want to
bring some classic pop to
their performances.This
lyrical ballad was
released by Billy Joel in
1977 and has gained
popularity recently when
it was used for a John
Lewis television advert.
Onder de naam
Pops for String
Quartet heeft de
Haske een nieuwe serie
ontwikkeld voor
strijkkwartetten die zich
eens buiten het klassieke
pad willen begeven. Een
collectie van uitstekende
arrangementen in
gemiddelde
moeilijkheidsgraad!Deze
prachtige ballad uit de
jaren zeventig van Billy
Joel leent zich
uitstekend voor een
gevoelige interpretatie
door
strijkkwartet.
Unt
er dem Titel Pops for
String Quartet hat De
Haske eine Notenreihe ins
Leben gerufen, die
Streichquartette, die
sich einmal abseits der
ausgetretenen klassischen
Pfade bewegen wollen, mit
ausgezeichneten
Arrangements im leichten
bis mittleren
Schwierigkeitsgrad
versorgt.Die lyrische
Ballade von Billy Joel
aus dem Jahre 1977 eignet
sich vorzüglich
für eine
gefühlvolle
Interpretation im
Streichquartett!
Pops
for String Quartet:
una collana per tutti i
violinisti desiderosi di
suonare qualcosa di
diverso dal repertorio
classico.La splendida
ballata lirica di Bill
Joel del 1977 si presta
alla perfezione per
essere interpretata da un
quartetto di archi.
The Movies Collection Quatuor à cordes: 2 violons, alto, violoncelle [Conducteur et Parties séparées] - Facile De Haske Publications
String Quartet - early intermediate SKU: BT.DHP-1196090-070 10 Great F...(+)
String Quartet - early
intermediate
SKU:
BT.DHP-1196090-070
10 Great Film Music
Themes. Arranged by
Anthony Gröger. De
Haske Pops for String
Quartet.
TV-Film-Musical-Show. Set
(Score & Parts). Composed
2019. 36 pages. De Haske
Publications #DHP
1196090-070. Published by
De Haske Publications
(BT.DHP-1196090-070).
ISBN 9789043157674.
English-German-French-Dut
ch.
Cinema has
always aimed to do one
thing above all else:
arouse emotions. Yet
however exciting,
entertaining or
fascinating a story might
be, its full impact is
really only felt with the
help of the right music.
While most original
soundtracks demand a
large orchestra, a much
smaller ensemble is
sufficient: Anthony
Gröger has taken ten
of the all-time most
beautiful film scores and
created stunning
arrangements for string
quartet. In keeping with
the Pops for String
Quartet series, this
volume also includes an
optional third violin
part in case a viola is
not available. This is an
indispensable collection
for any
occasion!
Van
oudsher is de film
bovenal bedoeld geweest
om emotie op te roepen.
Maar hoe spannend,
vermakelijk of boeiend
een verhaal ook is, pas
met de ondersteuning van
de juiste muziek komt het
volledig tot zijn recht.
Hoewel de meeste
originele soundtracks een
orkest met een grote
bezetting vereisen,
voldoet in dit geval een
kleiner ensemble. Anthony
Gröger heeft tien van
de mooiste
filmmuziektitels
verzameld en er prachtige
arrangementen voor
strijkkwartet van
gemaakt. Net als bij de
andere uitgaven in de
serie Pops for String
Quartet bevat ook
deze bundel een optionele
derde vioolpartij, voor
het geval er geen
altviool beschikbaar is.
Een fraaie collectie met
nummers voordiverse
gelegenheden!
Seit jeher
möchte Kino vor allem
eines: Emotionen wecken.
Doch wie spannend,
lustig, interessant eine
Story auch immer sein mag
erst mit Hilfe der
passenden Filmmusik kann
sie ihre volle Wirkung
entfalten. Während die
meisten Soundtracks im
Original ein groß
besetztes Orchester
erfordern, genügt hier
bereits eine viel
kleinere Besetzung:
Anthony Gröger hat
sich zehn der
schönsten
Filmmusik-Titel aller
Zeiten vorgenommen und
wirkungsvoll für
Streichquartett
bearbeitet. Eine
unverzichtbare Sammlung
für Anlässe jeder
Art, bei denen ein
Streichquartett gefragt
ist. Wie in der Serie
Pops for String
Quartet üblich,
enthält das Set auch
eine optionale
dritteViolinstimme für
den Fall, dass keine
Bratsche zur Verfügung
steht.
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 b...(+)
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.
Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne Quatuor à cordes: 2 violons, alto, violoncelle [Conducteur et Parties séparées] - Facile David E. Smith Publications
String quartet - Grade 2.75 SKU: DS.169423 Composed by Charles Wesley. Ar...(+)
String quartet - Grade
2.75
SKU:
DS.169423
Composed by
Charles Wesley. Arranged
by Dana F. Everson.
Christmas. Sheet Music.
Sacred instrumental
music. Score and parts.
David E. Smith #169423.
Published by David E.
Smith (DS.169423).
A string
quartet with optional
violin for viola. After a
full ensemble
introduction the piece
gives way to a duet in
the viola and cello. With
the violins entering one
at a time the piece now
becomes full with all
parts present gravitating
to motivic development
moving to a modulation.
The next section gives
the tune to the cello
with the upper lines
adding punctuated
accompanied figures. The
next section uses motivic
patterns while passing
portions of the tune to
the various players. A
modulation- then the
parts become increasingly
more active in a
variation style. With a
solid ensemble altering
the melody; a brake;
then, repose.
Arranged by Nico Dezaire.
De Haske String Series.
Christmas. Set (Score &
Parts). Composed 2011. 16
pages. De Haske
Publications #DHP
1115201-070. Published by
De Haske Publications
(BT.DHP-1115201-070).
ISBN 9789043148283. 12
X 9 inches.
English-German-French-Dut
ch.
This new
quartet will be perfect
for any Christmas
concert.
Nico
Dezaire koos vijf bekende
kerstliederen voor deze
leuke medley: In dulci
jubilo, Stille Nacht,
Still, still, still, Er
is een roos ontloken
en de Engelse carol
Away in a Manger.
Ook goed speelbaar voor
beginnendestrijkersensemb
les!
Nico Dezaire
fasste fünf
bekannte traditionelle
Weihnachtslieder in einem
Medley zusammen, das auch
Anfänger-Streicherense
mbles gut spielen
können.
String
Quartets / Double Quartet
to Schubert. Composed
by Adriana Holszky.
Chamber music; stapled.
Kammermusik-Bibliothek
(Chamber Music Library).
World premiere of the
complete version: Witten,
April 27, 1991
Music
post-1945; New music
(post-2000). Performance
score. Composed 1989/90.
68 pages. Duration 18'.
Breitkopf and Haertel #KM
2418. Published by
Breitkopf and Haertel
(BR.KM-2418).
ISBN
9790004501887. 10.5 x 14
inches.
There are
two versions of this
piece (two ways to
perform it):- as a
quartet- for two quartets
playing simultaneously.
In the latter case, the
two quartets divide the
staves of the page of a
score in such a way that
one quartet always plays
the upper stave, the
other quartet the lower.
One of the two quartets
can be taped beforehand
in case it is impossible
to make use of two
quartets.(Adriana
Holszky)CDs:Hangebrucken-
Quartett I - Quartett II-
DoppelquartettNomos-Quart
ett;
Pellegrini-QuartettCD cpo
999
112-2Bibliography:Blument
aler, Volker: Adriana
Holszky; Hangebrucken,
in: Streifzuge.
Werkkommentare zur Neuen
Musik, Saarbrucken 2000,
pp. 74-78.Brodsky, Seth:
From 1989, or European
Music and the Modernist
Unconscious, Oakland:
University of California
Press 2017, pp. 164-166,
262f.Hiekel, Jorn Peter:
Antiklassisches,
Rauschhaftes, Groteskes.
Uberlegungen zu den
Werken Hangebrucken und
Message, in: Adriana
Holszky, hrsg. von
Eva-Maria Houben,
Saarbrucken 2000, pp.
69-80.ders.: Fremdheit
und Vertrautheit.
Strategien der
Wiederverwendung im
Komponieren von Adriana
Holszky, in: Neue
Zeitschrift fur Musik 178
(2017), Heft 5, pp.
26-29.Holszky, Adriana:
Wandernde Klangraume und
die Korperlichkeit des
Klanges, in: Neue
Rundschau 132 (2021),
Heft 1, S.
146-158Nonnenmann,
Rainer: Die Quadratur des
musikalischen Kreises.
Aspekte des
Streichquartettschaffens
im einundzwanzigsten
Jahrhundert, in:
MusikTexte Heft 162
(August 2019), S.
91-98Schafer-Lembeck,
Hans-Ulrich: Du baust dir
eine Stadt . Uberlegungen
zu Asthetik und Didaktik
von Adriana Holszkys
Hangebrucken, in: Neue
Musik vermitteln.
Analysen Interpretationen
- Unterricht, hrsg. von
Hans Bassler, Ortwin
Nimczik und Peter W.
Schatt, Mainz: Schott,
2004, pp.
265-285.Zeitler, Ulrich:
Hangebrucken - Brucken
zur Vergangenheit?, in:
Musik und Unterricht 16
(1992), pp. 37-42.Zenck,
Martin: Internationalitat
und nationale Romantik im
19. und 20. Jahrhundert.
Zur Schubert-Rezeption in
zwei Jahrhunderten, in:
Archiv fur
Musikwissenschaft 67
(2010), Heft 4, pp.
261-283.
World
premiere of the complete
version: Witten, April
27, 1991.
Composed by Christian Mason. World premiere: Paris, Cite de la musique, Januar...(+)
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 No. 4 Quatuor à cordes: 2 violons, alto, violoncelle Carl Fischer
Chamber Music String Quartet SKU: CF.BE24 The Planet on the Table....(+)
Chamber Music String
Quartet
SKU:
CF.BE24
The Planet
on the Table.
Composed by Martin
Bresnick. Folio. Set of
Score and Parts.
48+20+16+16+16 pages.
Duration 32 minutes. Carl
Fischer Music #BE24.
Published by Carl Fischer
Music (CF.BE24).
ISBN
9781491156780. UPC:
680160915323. 9 x 12
inches. La.
Based
on Wallace Stevens' poem
The Planet on the Table
this string quartet's
world is made of the
music and sounds of
remembered times or of
something heard that the
composer, Martin
Bresnick, liked. The
quartet has five
movements, each headed by
a quotation from one of
Stevens' poems as a point
of departure or pathway
into those remembered
sounds and music. What
matters is that my music,
like his (Stevens')
poetry, should bear some
lineament or character,
some affluence, if only
half perceived in the
poverty of its sounds, of
the planet of which it
was part.. Wallace
Stevens' poem The Planet
on the Table begins -
Ariel was glad he had
written his poems, They
were of a remembered time
Or of something seen that
he liked. In this string
quartet, also entitled
The Planet on the Table,
my planet is made of the
music and sounds of a
remembered time or of
something heard that I
liked. The quartet has
five movements, each
headed by a quotation
from one of Stevens'
poems* as a point of
departure or pathway into
those remembered sounds
and music: I. Mrs.
Anderson's Swedish Baby
II. She Measured the Hour
III. Scene 10 Becomes 11
IV. Someone Has Walked
Across the Snow V. His
Self and the Sun Like
Stevens, my self and the
sun are one, and my
music, like his poetry,
although makings of my
self, is also makings of
the sun. Stevens wrote it
was not important that
his poetry survive, which
is also true of my work.
What matters is that my
music, like his poetry,
should bear some
lineament or character,
some affluence, if only
half perceived in the
poverty of its sounds, of
the planet of which it
was part. *Sources for
the titles: I. The
Pleasures of Merely
Circulating II. The Idea
of Order at Key West III.
Chaos in Motion and Not
in Motion IV. Vacancy in
the Park V. The Planet on
the Table. Wallace
Stevens' poem The Planet
on the Table begins
-Ariel was glad he had
written his poems,They
were of a remembered
timeOr of something seen
that he liked.In this
string quartet, also
entitled The Planet on
the Table, my planet is
made of the music and
sounds of a remembered
time or of something
heard that I liked.The
quartet has five
movements, each headed by
a quotation from one of
Stevens' poems* as a
point of departure or
pathway into those
remembered sounds and
music:I. Mrs. Anderson's
Swedish BabyII. She
Measured the HourIII.
Scene 10 Becomes 11IV.
Someone Has Walked Across
the SnowV. His Self and
the SunLike Stevens, my
self and the sun are one,
and my music, like his
poetry, although makings
of my self, is also
makings of the sun.
Stevens wrote it was not
important that his poetry
survive, which is also
true of my work.What
matters is that my music,
like his poetry, should
bear some lineament or
character, some
affluence, if only half
perceived in the poverty
of its sounds, of the
planet of which it was
part.*Sources for the
titles:I. The Pleasures
of Merely CirculatingII.
The Idea of Order at Key
WestIII. Chaos in Motion
and Not in MotionIV.
Vacancy in the ParkV. The
Planet on the Table.
String quartet SKU: FG.55011-510-1 Composed by Matthew Whittall. Score an...(+)
String quartet
SKU:
FG.55011-510-1
Composed by Matthew
Whittall. Score and
parts. Fennica Gehrman
#55011-510-1. Published
by Fennica Gehrman
(FG.55011-510-1).
ISBN
9790550115101.
Matt
hew Whittall's preface to
Bright Ferment (2019): I
have a complicated
history with the string
quartet. Actually, it's
not that complicated. I
spent months writing a
huge one in my early
twenties and hastily
withdrew it after a long
delayed premiere, vowing
never to write another.
In a typical case of
karmic retribution, my
fear of the form would
eventually be overcome by
the unrefusable offer to
write the compulsory
piece for the Banff
International String
Quartet Competition in my
native Canada. The short
duration requested, about
nine minutes, also felt
like a good way to wade
gingerly back into the
medium. The title was
originally just a
nice-sounding pair of
words that surfaced in a
brainstorming session
with fellow composer Alex
Freeman over an
injudicious amount of
fermented barley. When I
looked it up later, I
found that it was a
phrase of older coinage,
seemingly used more for
poetic resonance than any
fixed meaning. Ferment by
itself denotes a state of
confusion, change or lack
of order. With bright, it
takes on a more positive
connotation with regard
to society and
creativity: a wild
profusion of ideas barely
checked by reason. (It
may not actually mean
that, but it describes
this piece nicely, so
let's go with it.)
Fermentation in its
trendy culinary usage is
also hinted at via a
recurrent percolating
device of scattered
pizzicati. As one may
guess from the tone of
this introduction, there
is little attempt at
gravity in Bright
Ferment, the only means
by which I felt I could
sidestep the historical
and expressive weight of
the string quartet genre.
Styles, gestures and
moods are tossed around,
cross-cut and abandoned
in
stream-of-consciousness
fashion, connected by
little except an
intuitive sense of
rightness in their
juxtaposition. If the
piece acquires depth in
spite of me, it will only
be because its disparate
parts amplify and
strengthen each other
simply by being together
- much like the ensemble
itself. Bright Ferment
was commissioned by the
Banff Centre for the Arts
and Creativity and the
Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation, with
additional funding from
the Americas Society (New
York), for the 2019 Banff
International String
Quartet Competition.
Duration: ca. 9
minutes.