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 or String Orchestra - easy SKU: BT.DHP-1135315-070 Arrange...(+)
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.
Harbor Music Quatuor à cordes: 2 violons, alto, violoncelle [Conducteur] Theodore Presser Co.
String Quartet SKU: PR.16400222S Composed by Dan Welcher. Full score (stu...(+)
String Quartet
SKU:
PR.16400222S
Composed
by Dan Welcher. Full
score (study). With
Standard notation.
Duration 11 minutes.
Theodore Presser Company
#164-00222S. Published by
Theodore Presser Company
(PR.16400222S).
UPC:
680160037841.
This
work follows my Quartet
No. 1 by five years. In
terms of style and
aesthetic aim, however,
it seems light years
away. Where the first
work, a 28-minute,
four-movement piece, took
aim at cosmic conflicts
and heroic resolutions,
the present work is
intended as a kind of
divertissment. Harbor
Music lasts a mere eleven
minutes, is cast in a
single movement with six
sections, and should
leave both performers and
listeners with a feeling
of good humor and
affection. The
title comes from my
experience as a guest in
the magnificent city of
Sydney, Australia. One of
its most attractive
features is its unique
system of ferry boats:
the city is laid out
around a large,
multi-channeled harbor,
with destinations more
easily approached by
water than by land.
Consequently, inhabitants
of Sydney get around on
small, people-friendly
boats that come and go
from the central docks at
Circular Quay. During a
week's visit in 1991, I
must have boarded these
boats at least a dozen
times, always bound for a
new location - the resort
town of Manley, or the
Zoo at Taronga Park, or
the shopping district at
Darling Harbour.
In casting about for a
form for my second string
quartet, a kind of loose
rondo came to mind. Each
new destination would be
approached from the same
starting-out point
(although there are
subtle variations in the
repeating theme; it's
always in a new key, and
the texture is never the
same). The result, I
hope, is a sense of
constant new information
presented with
introductory frames of a
more familiar nature.
The embarkation
theme, which begins the
piece, is a sort of
bi-tonal fanfare in which
the violins are in G
major and the viola and
cello are in B-flat
major. It is bold, eager,
and forward-looking. The
first voyage maintains
this bi-tonality,
beginning as a 9/8 due
for second violin and
viola in a kind of
rocking motion -much as a
boat produces when
reaching the deeper water
in the harbor. A sweet,
nostalgic theme emerges
over this rocking
accompaniment. This music
is developed somewhat,
then transforms quickly
into a much faster and
lighter episode, filled
with rising and falling
scales (again, in
differing keys). A
scherzando interlude in
short notes and changing
meters provides contrast,
and the episode ends with
a reprise of the scales.
The second
embarkation follows, this
time in A major/C major.
It leads quickly into a
very warm and slow theme,
in wide-leaping intervals
for the viola. This
section is interrupted
twice by solo cadenzas
for the cello, suggesting
distant boat-horns in
major thirds. The end of
the episode becomes a
transition, with
boat-horns leading into
the final appearance of
the embarkation music,
this time in trills and
tremolos instead of
sharply accented chords.
The nostalgic theme of
the first episode makes a
final appearance, serving
now as a coda. The
rocking motion continues,
in a lullaby fashion,
leaving us drowsy and
satisfied on our homeward
journey. Harbor
Music was written for the
Cavani Quartet, and is
dedicated to Richard J.
Bogomolny. Commissioned
by his employees at First
National Supermarkets as
a gift, it represents a
thank you from many of
the people (including
this composer) who have
benefitted from his
vision and generosity. An
ardent advocate of
chamber music (and a
cellist himself), Mr.
Bogomolny has for many
years been Chairman of
the Board of Chamber
Music America. -- Dan
Welcher.
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.
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.
String Quartet No. 8 Quatuor à cordes: 2 violons, alto, violoncelle Merion Music
Chamber Music String Quartet SKU: PR.144407270 Composed by Sydney F. Hodk...(+)
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.
String Quartet No. 8 Quatuor à cordes: 2 violons, alto, violoncelle [Conducteur] Merion Music
Chamber Music String Quartet SKU: PR.14440727S Composed by Sydney F. Hodk...(+)
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.
Paul Robeson Told Me Quatuor à cordes: 2 violons, alto, violoncelle [Partition + CD] Boosey and Hawkes
String Quartet and Pre-recorded Sound. Composed by Michael Daugherty (1954-). Bo...(+)
String Quartet and
Pre-recorded Sound.
Composed by Michael
Daugherty (1954-). Boosey
and Hawkes Chamber Music.
Classical. Softcover with
CD, Score and Parts. 52
pages. Boosey and Hawkes
#M051105922. Published by
Boosey and Hawkes
Chamber Music String Quartet SKU: PR.114405050 Composed by John Downey. S...(+)
Chamber Music String
Quartet
SKU:
PR.114405050
Composed
by John Downey. Set of
Score and Parts. With
Standard notation. 53
pages. Duration 25
minutes. Theodore Presser
Company #114-40505.
Published by Theodore
Presser Company
(PR.114405050).
UPC:
680160008377. 11 x 14
inches.
Although
structurally it
subdivides into five
movements, the entire
quartet emerges as one
vast continuum. There are
no formal breaks between
movements. However,
certain musical signposts
can be discerned,
associated with each of
the movements'
terminations and new
beginnings. The opening
movement, The Nostalgia
of Clanging Bell
Sonorities, begins
floating on recurrent Bbs
whose soft rhythmic flow
slowly puts into motion
strong undercurrents
suggestive of the latent
power of water... After
several suggestions of
tolling bells, the
movement gradually fades
into hushed tones of
veiled and very distant
sonorities. It uses a
unique efffect, for the
first time in a musical
context, conveyed through
the use of extra heavy
practice mutes. The
second movement, The
Spill of Water ,
disengages itself from
the first through its
distinct contrast in
tempo. Water moves fast,
and when it splashes, it
tends to run wildly. In
this case, it happens to
be bubbly water that
gushes forth bodly...
smashing across rocky
shorlines. So, too, the
music attempts to conjure
such moods. At the end of
this movement, a cello
cadenza emerges,
introducing an
introspective type of
melodicism. The third
movement, The Poignancy
of Memory, contains many
silences as it tries to
convey memory through
fragmented remembrances
much like often occur in
our dream state.
Progressing through
several slowly building
images, it gradually
works itself into
juxtaposition of musical
images. Towards the
movement's end, high
harmonics are sounding in
all four instruments
while left hand pizzicato
notes in the cello pluch
the last remembrances of
this central core. Almost
imperceptibly, the viola
assumes leadership as it
dissolves into: The
fourth movement, The
Fluidity of Motion, which
has mostly the viola, but
also the cello,
articulating lyrical
statements against the
sheets of sound conjured
up by the two violins
playing a flood of
swirling figures, evokes
a kind of static motion
in spae. Here, the
virtually imperceptible
manner in which this
hushed whisper continues
incessantly, can suggest
the potential fluidity
with which movement may
inch forward... Later
into the fourth movement
, two fairly extended
solos by the second and
then the first violins,
lead to a kind of
spontaneous dialogue
among the four
instrumentalists.
Eventually, this musical
conversation gets caught
up in: The fifth
movement's The Rush of
Time, which opens with a
hushed flurry of speed,
precipitates the Finale.
It generates, at first
slowly, but then very
swiftly, whole shifts of
rhythmic fields that
initially seem to
conflict with one
another. Ultimately, this
use of 'psycho-rhythmics
contributes to an on-rush
of motion and time.
Rhythmic changes are, at
times, abruptly
precipitated with but
little or no preparation
creating a kind of
inevitability in forward
thrust, while the
movement rushes forward
with a feeling of gradual
and continuous
acceleration. It gathers
density as more and more
notes are piled
progressively upon
successive beats. The
attempt is to spark
tension and ignite
excitement by means of
frenetic confrontations
of dissimilitudes.
Ultimately - with the
help of time - these
polarities centrifically
spin out their own
destinies with their
accompanying fall-out and
own inevitable
resolutions.
Chamber Music String Quartet SKU: PR.11440505S Composed by John Downey. F...(+)
Chamber Music String
Quartet
SKU:
PR.11440505S
Composed
by John Downey. Full
score. With Standard
notation. 53 pages.
Duration 25 minutes.
Theodore Presser Company
#114-40505S. Published by
Theodore Presser Company
(PR.11440505S).
UPC:
680160008391. 11 x 14
inches.
Although
structurally it
subdivides into five
movements, the entire
quartet emerges as one
vast continuum. There are
no formal breaks between
movements. However,
certain musical signposts
can be discerned,
associated with each of
the movements'
terminations and new
beginnings. The opening
movement, The Nostalgia
of Clanging Bell
Sonorities, begins
floating on recurrent Bbs
whose soft rhythmic flow
slowly puts into motion
strong undercurrents
suggestive of the latent
power of water... After
several suggestions of
tolling bells, the
movement gradually fades
into hushed tones of
veiled and very distant
sonorities. It uses a
unique effect, for the
first time in a musical
context, conveyed through
the use of extra heavy
practice mutes. The
second movement, The
Spill of Water,
disengages itself from
the first through its
distinct contrast in
tempo. Water moves fast,
and when it splashes, it
tends to run wildly. In
this case, it happens to
be bubbly water that
gushes forth bodly...
smashing across rocky
shorelines. So, too, the
music attempts to conjure
such moods. At the end of
this movement, a cello
cadenza emerges,
introducing an
introspective type of
melodicism. The third
movement, The Poignancy
of Memory, contains many
silences as it tries to
convey memory through
fragmented remembrances
much like often occur in
our dream state.
Progressing through
several slowly building
images, it gradually
works itself into
juxtaposition of musical
images. Towards the
movement's end, high
harmonics are sounding in
all four instruments
while left hand pizzicato
notes in the cello pluck
the last remembrances of
this central core. Almost
imperceptibly, the viola
assumes leadership as it
dissolves into: The
fourth movement, The
Fluidity of Motion, which
has mostly the viola, but
also the cello,
articulating lyrical
statements against sheets
of sound conjured up by
the two violins playing a
flood of swirling
figures, evokes a kind of
static motion in space.
Here , the virtually
imperceptible manner in
which this hushed whisper
continues incessantly,
can suggest the potential
fluidity with which
movement may inch
forward... Later into the
fourth movement, two
fairly extended solos by
the second and then the
first violins, lead to a
kind of spontaneous
dialogue amont the four
instrumentalists.
Eventually, this musical
conversation gets caught
up in: The fifth
movement's The Rush of
Time, which opens with a
hushed flurry of speed,
precipitates the Finale.
It generates, at first
slowly, but then very
swiftly, whole shifts of
rhythmic fields that
initially seem to
conflict with one
another. Ultimately, this
use of psycho-rhythmics
contributes to an on-rush
seem of motion and time.
Rhythmic changes are, at
times, abruptly
precipitated with but
little or no preparation
creating a kind of
inevitability in forward
thrust, while the
movement rushes forward
with a feeling of gradual
and continuous
acceleration. It gathers
density as more and more
notes are piled
progressively upon
successive beats. The
attempt is to spark
tension and ignite
excitement by means of
frenetic confrontations
of dissimilitudes.
Ultimately - with the
help of time - these
polarities centrifically
spin out their own
destinies with their
accompanying fall-out and
own inevitable
resolutions.