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

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.

2 violins, viola, violoncello

SKU: FG.55011-876-8

Composed by Timo Alakotila. Classical, contemporary, folk. Score & parts. Fennica Gehrman #55011-876-8. Published by Fennica Gehrman (FG.55011-876-8).

Timo Alakotila's String quartet no. 4 (2022) was premiered by Tempera Quartet. In its four movements the work combines the rich sound of the classical string quartet with rhythms and idioms of Finnish folk music. The titles of the movements decribe the journey (Quest - Joy - Direction - Resolution).

This product includes a full score and a set of parts.

Composer, musician Timo Alakotila (b. 1959) is a distinguished, active and versatile talent in the Finnish music scene whose long career working with different genres of music - folk music in particular - has been ground-breaking. Alakotila's works showcase his versatility: he has produced highly acclaimed classical music compositions and arrangements for Pekka and Jaakko Kuusisto, the Meta4 quartet, the Kamus and Tempera quartets, Eeva Oksala, Dalia Stasevska and Jorma Hynninen, among others.

String Quartet

SKU: SU.28040041

For String Quartet. Composed by John Newell. Chamber Music, String Trio/Quartet/Quintet. Set of Parts. Abierto Music #28040041. Published by Abierto Music (SU.28040041).

A series of reflections on one day’s journey (or one life’s journey). The titles of the four movements can almost be read as one sentence: Thoughts at dawn… through heat and grit... become a canticle... seeking in faith the light. Audio and score previews are available at the composer's web site: johnnewellmusic.com/works /chamber-ensemble/ String Quartet Duration: 28' Composed: 2008 Published by: Abierto Music Also available: Full Score (28040040).

String Quartet

SKU: SU.28040040

For String Quartet. Composed by John Newell. Chamber Music, String Trio/Quartet/Quintet. Score. Abierto Music #28040040. Published by Abierto Music (SU.28040040).

A series of reflections on one day’s journey (or one life’s journey). The titles of the four movements can almost be read as one sentence: Thoughts at dawn… through heat and grit... become a canticle... seeking in faith the light. Audio and score previews are available at the composer's web site: johnnewellmusic.com/works /chamber-ensemble/ String Quartet Duration: 28' Composed: 2008 Published by: Abierto Music Also available: Set of Parts (28040041).

By Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959). Miniature score for string quartet (2 violins, viola, cello). 67 pages. Published by Praha (Czech import).

Harp, Flute, Clarinet, String Quartet

SKU: HL.14023298

Composed by Per Norgard. Music Sales America. Score. Music Sales #KP01431. Published by Music Sales (HL.14023298).

ISBN 9788759871591. English.

Per Norgard 's Gennem Torne / Through Thorns (2003) Harp Concerto No. 2 - Passage for Harp Solo with Flute, Clarinet and String Quartet. Premiered by Tine Rehling (Harp) and the Esbjerg Ensemble, conducted by Kaisa Roose at the Concert Hall of the Western Jutland Academy of Music, Esbjerg, 28th January 2004. Programme Note THROUGH THORNS has a duration of about 20 minutes, in one continuous movement, thus the subtitle passage. The work is scored for harp solo, flute, clarinet and string quartet. The title is borrowed from the lines from an old Virgin Mary Hymn: Mary wanders through thorns, a hymn which ends with the following line: then roses grew forth amongst thethorns. I only came across the poem after finishing the composition, the passage of which is a journey of sometimes dramatic events, concluding with a rose-blooming, as does the hymn.  For THROUGH THORNS to borrow its title from a Virgin Mary Hymn has to do with the musical material and current of the piece, which brings motives from an earlier choral piece of mine, FLOS UT ROSA (Latin for a flower like a rose), and the rose in question is of course the one which grew forth when the Virgin Mary gave birth to the Infant Jesus in a hitherto unheard-of fashion, a NOVA GENITURA (new birth), which is the title of another work of mine that also derives its material from my original rose-melody from 1975.  THROUGH THORNS is dedicated to Tine Rehling, and together with her I have tried to expand the sonorities of the harp, by exploring existing techniques and their more remote regions, in order to gain access to new territory and new soundscaoes, as realised by the constantly experimentally-minded and virtuoso player.  Per Norgard, 2004.   .

String quartet (2 violins, viola, cello) - Moderately Difficult to Difficult

SKU: OU.9780193412354

Composed by Michael Berkeley. String Quartets. Set of parts. 48 pages. Duration 18'. Oxford University Press #9780193412354. Published by Oxford University Press (OU.9780193412354).

ISBN 9780193412354. 12 x 8 inches.

Berkeley's second string quartet uses a free, random presentation of thematic material. There is a sharp contrast between the tight and rhythmic central section and the final passage which dispenses with barlines altogether, providing a fascinating journey through interrelated and continuous sections.

String quartet (2 vln, vla, vc) - Moderately Difficult to Difficult

SKU: OU.9780193554986

Composed by Michael Berkeley. String Quartets. Score. 32 pages. Duration 18'. Oxford University Press #9780193554986. Published by Oxford University Press (OU.9780193554986).

ISBN 9780193554986. 12 x 8 inches.

Berkeley's second string quartet uses a free, random presentation of thematic material. There is a sharp contrast between the tight and rhythmic central section and the final passage which dispenses with barlines altogether, providing a fascinating journey through interrelated and continuous sections.