String Quartet (2vl,va,vc) SKU: BR.EB-9243 Full Score. Composed by...(+)
String Quartet
(2vl,va,vc)
SKU:
BR.EB-9243
Full
Score. Composed by
Christian Mason. Chamber
music; stapled. Edition
Breitkopf. World premiere
of the original version:
London, May 10, 2016World
premiere of the string
orchestra version:
Clermont-Ferrand, October
8, 2020. New music
(post-2000). Full score.
Composed 2016/2020. 40
pages. Duration 19'.
Breitkopf and Haertel #EB
9243. Published by
Breitkopf and Haertel
(BR.EB-9243).
ISBN
9790004185438. 9 x 12
inches.
It was the
practice of Khoomii
(throat singing) -
following several
workshops with Michael
Ormiston - that first
attracted me to Tuvan
music. Composing this
Songbook, the first in a
series commissioned by
the Ligeti Quartet, I
took the chance to
reflect on compositional
questions around
transcription and
arrangement of existing
music, and frequently
found myself asking:
where is the boundary
between the source
material and the new
substance? Of course the
relationship varies from
piece to piece, and
moment to moment:
sometimes we seem to
glimpse the pure source,
but most of the time
there are differing
degrees of distance,
working towards or away
from it. This new version
for string orchestra
corresponds closely to
the original quartet
version, with an
additional part for
double basses.The
traditional Tuvan songs
that I have transcribed
and recomposed are all
known to me from the Ay
Kherel CD The Music of
Tuva: Throat Singing and
Instruments from Central
Asia (2004, Arc Music).
According to the notes
from that CD, this is
what the songs are
about:1. Dyngylday: If
you have come on a horse
in blue, it doesn't mean
that you are the best. My
heart tells me something
else: my sweetheart
doesn't have such a
beautiful horse, but he
is my darling.An
alternative
interpretation from Alash
Ensemble
(alashensemble.com): The
word dyngylday is a
nonsense term with no
translation. The song
makes good-humored fun of
somebody for being a
good-for-nothing.2. Eki
Attar (The Best Steeds):
The horse is the basis of
our life. It is a magic
creature. Even its step
is full of music and
rhythm. You may not be a
horse rider, but when you
hear this song you will
always remember horses.3.
Kuda Yry: This wedding
song glorifies the
strength of the groom and
the beauty of his
Horse.4. Ezir-Kara
('Black Eagle'): This was
the name of a horse, who
became a legend through
his remarkable strength
and speed.It is not just
overtones that abound
here: there are galloping
rhythms aplenty, and
though I am no horse
rider I tried to keep the
horses galloping in my
imagination while
composing these
pieces.Christian Mason
(with quotes from Ay
Kherel and Alash
Ensemble)
World
premiere of the original
version: London/UK, May
10, 2016, World premiere
of the string orchestra
version:
Clermont-Ferrand/France,
October 8, 2020.
String Quartet (2vl,va,vc) SKU: BR.EB-9244 Set of Parts. Composed ...(+)
String Quartet
(2vl,va,vc)
SKU:
BR.EB-9244
Set of
Parts. Composed by
Christian Mason. Chamber
music; stapled. Edition
Breitkopf. World premiere
of the original version:
London, May 10, 2016World
premiere of the string
orchestra version:
Clermont-Ferrand, October
8, 2020. New music
(post-2000). Set of
parts. Composed
2016/2020. 92 pages.
Duration 19'. Breitkopf
and Haertel #EB 9244.
Published by Breitkopf
and Haertel (BR.EB-9244).
ISBN 9790004185445. 9
x 12 inches.
It was
the practice of Khoomii
(throat singing) -
following several
workshops with Michael
Ormiston - that first
attracted me to Tuvan
music. Composing this
Songbook, the first in a
series commissioned by
the Ligeti Quartet, I
took the chance to
reflect on compositional
questions around
transcription and
arrangement of existing
music, and frequently
found myself asking:
where is the boundary
between the source
material and the new
substance? Of course the
relationship varies from
piece to piece, and
moment to moment:
sometimes we seem to
glimpse the pure source,
but most of the time
there are differing
degrees of distance,
working towards or away
from it. This new version
for string orchestra
corresponds closely to
the original quartet
version, with an
additional part for
double basses.The
traditional Tuvan songs
that I have transcribed
and recomposed are all
known to me from the Ay
Kherel CD The Music of
Tuva: Throat Singing and
Instruments from Central
Asia (2004, Arc Music).
According to the notes
from that CD, this is
what the songs are
about:1. Dyngylday: If
you have come on a horse
in blue, it doesn't mean
that you are the best. My
heart tells me something
else: my sweetheart
doesn't have such a
beautiful horse, but he
is my darling.An
alternative
interpretation from Alash
Ensemble
(alashensemble.com): The
word dyngylday is a
nonsense term with no
translation. The song
makes good-humored fun of
somebody for being a
good-for-nothing.2. Eki
Attar (The Best Steeds):
The horse is the basis of
our life. It is a magic
creature. Even its step
is full of music and
rhythm. You may not be a
horse rider, but when you
hear this song you will
always remember horses.3.
Kuda Yry: This wedding
song glorifies the
strength of the groom and
the beauty of his
Horse.4. Ezir-Kara
('Black Eagle'): This was
the name of a horse, who
became a legend through
his remarkable strength
and speed.It is not just
overtones that abound
here: there are galloping
rhythms aplenty, and
though I am no horse
rider I tried to keep the
horses galloping in my
imagination while
composing these
pieces.Christian Mason
(with quotes from Ay
Kherel and Alash
Ensemble)
World
premiere of the original
version: London/UK, May
10, 2016, World premiere
of the string orchestra
version:
Clermont-Ferrand/France,
October 8, 2020.
String Quartet SKU: BR.EB-9271 Composed by Christian Mason. Chamber music...(+)
String Quartet
SKU:
BR.EB-9271
Composed
by Christian Mason.
Chamber music. Edition
Breitkopf. New music
(post-2000); Music
post-1945. Sheet Music.
Composed 2018. Duration
21'. Breitkopf and
Haertel #EB 9271.
Published by Breitkopf
and Haertel (BR.EB-9271).
ISBN 9790004185711. 0
x 0 inches.
I fell
in love with the
remarkable singing of the
Tenores di Bitti on
hearing their recordings
as a student. Their
uniquely intense vocal
timbre, their harmony,
which seemed pure and
rough at once, and the
sense that this music
was, at root, not so much
about performance as
simply being together in
the world, in a community
of spirit. At the time, I
had no intention of using
this music to my own
creative ends, but now,
here we are: Sardinian
Songbook is the second in
a cycle of works for the
Ligeti Quartet, all based
on transcriptions of
music from different
throat-singing
traditions. Like string
quartets, the tenores
usually sing in groups of
four voices, but being
free from instruments
they stand very close
together enabling the
resonances of their
voices to blend and
interact in a special
way. The quartet, of
course, can only sit so
close before their bows
clash, so I have chosen
instead to reflect this
physical closeness
inversely, by getting the
players to stand
increasingly far from one
another as the piece
progresses. In so doing,
the initial state of
sonic blend gives way to
hocketing lines, opening
up the sense of
space.Christian Mason,
2018 The four movements
may be played separately
or as a collection. If
played together the
following order should be
observed (see table of
contents).
World
premiere: Sheffield/UK,
Firth Hall, April 14,
2018, Commissioned by
Ligeti Quartet.
String Quartet SKU: BR.EB-9270 Composed by Christian Mason. Chamber music...(+)
String Quartet
SKU:
BR.EB-9270
Composed
by Christian Mason.
Chamber music. Edition
Breitkopf. New music
(post-2000); Music
post-1945. Sheet Music.
Composed 2018. 28 pages.
Duration 21'. Breitkopf
and Haertel #EB 9270.
Published by Breitkopf
and Haertel (BR.EB-9270).
ISBN 9790004185704. 9
x 12 inches.
I fell
in love with the
remarkable singing of the
Tenores di Bitti on
hearing their recordings
as a student. Their
uniquely intense vocal
timbre, their harmony,
which seemed pure and
rough at once, and the
sense that this music
was, at root, not so much
about performance as
simply being together in
the world, in a community
of spirit. At the time, I
had no intention of using
this music to my own
creative ends, but now,
here we are: Sardinian
Songbook is the second in
a cycle of works for the
Ligeti Quartet, all based
on transcriptions of
music from different
throat-singing
traditions. Like string
quartets, the tenores
usually sing in groups of
four voices, but being
free from instruments
they stand very close
together enabling the
resonances of their
voices to blend and
interact in a special
way. The quartet, of
course, can only sit so
close before their bows
clash, so I have chosen
instead to reflect this
physical closeness
inversely, by getting the
players to stand
increasingly far from one
another as the piece
progresses. In so doing,
the initial state of
sonic blend gives way to
hocketing lines, opening
up the sense of
space.Christian Mason,
2018 The four movements
may be played separately
or as a collection. If
played together the
following order should be
observed (see table of
contents).
World
premiere: Sheffield/UK,
Firth Hall, April 14,
2018, Commissioned by
Ligeti Quartet.
String Quartet - intermediate SKU: BT.DHP-1196190-070 Composed by Ulrich ...(+)
String Quartet -
intermediate
SKU:
BT.DHP-1196190-070
Composed by Ulrich
Roever, Michael Korb.
Arranged by Anthony
Gröger. De Haske Pops
for String Quartet. Set
(Score & Parts). Composed
2019. 12 pages. De Haske
Publications #DHP
1196190-070. Published by
De Haske Publications
(BT.DHP-1196190-070).
ISBN 9789043157971.
English-German-French-Dut
ch.
1982 saw the
publication of a melody
for written for bagpipes
by the name of
Highland
Cathedral—a
name that draws its
inspiration from a famous
neo-Gothic church in
Glasgow, Scotland. Since
its first appearance,
Highland Cathedral
has enjoyed a triumphant
tour around the globe,
often acknowledged as an
enthusiastic tribute to
the nation of Scotland.
Anthony
Gröger’s
version for string
quartet combines this
passionate character with
unmistakeable echoes of
the Scottish feel of the
original work. Here then
is this true classic,
especially popular at
wedding ceremonies, now
arranged for string
quartet.
In het
jaar 1982 werd een voor
doedelzak geschreven
melodie gepubliceerd,
waarvan de titel
Highland Cathedral
was ge nspireerd op een
beroemde neogotische kerk
in het Schotse Glasgow.
Sindsdien heeft het stuk
gaandeweg de wereld
veroverd en wordt het
vaak ten gehore gebracht
als enthousiast eerbetoon
aan Schotland. Anthony
Grögers versie voor
vier strijkers combineert
dat gepassioneerde
karakter met onmiskenbare
echo’s van de
Schotse sfeer van het
origineel. Een geliefde
klassieker, veelvuldig
gespeeld op bruiloften,
is nu dus ook
verkrijgbaar in een
arrangement voor
strijkkwartet.
Im
Jahre 1982 wurde eine
für Dudelsack
geschriebene Melodie
erstmals
veröffentlicht, deren
Name Highland
Cathedral auf einen
berühmten neogotischen
Kirchenbau im
schottischen Glasgow
anspielt. Seitdem hat sie
ihren Siegeszug um die
Welt angetreten und wird
oft als enthusiastisches
Bekenntnis zur
schottischen Nation
aufgefasst. Anthony
Grögers Version für
Streichquartett verbindet
diesen leidenschaftlichen
Charakter mit
unverkennbaren
Anklängen an das
schottische Klangidiom
des Originals. Ein
beliebter Klassiker, vor
allem auf
Hochzeitsfeiern, steht
somit nun auch
Streichquartett-Formation
en zur
Verfügung.
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.
Harbor Music Quatuor à cordes: 2 violons, alto, violoncelle 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.
Parts for String Quartet No.3 'Angel's Music' by Bent Sorensen (1988) Premiered ...(+)
Parts for String Quartet
No.3 'Angel's Music' by
Bent Sorensen (1988)
Premiered by the Arditti
String Quartet at the
Danish Radio Concert Hall
16 November 1988. Score
available: KP00250 The
composer writes: 'Even
when I was writing Adieu,
I knew that I wished to
write Angels Music. The
title existed in an
incomplete form in my
mind and gradually more
and more ideas and a few
outlines became clear.
The actual work on Angels
Music was started in
Rome, where I spent the
autumn of 1987 staying at
The Danish Academy.
Whether this stay has
influenced the quartet or
not is impossible to say.
however, it is true to
say that, in the Roman
churches I visited, I saw
countless angels playing
in the top of frescoes
and altars. Without these
angels, together with the
many crackled-gold
paintings in this city
and my general
fascination with the
Italian renaissance
painter Fra Angelico, (in
fact there are only a few
paintings by him in Rome,
but even his name..!) I
am not sure my quartet
would have been what it
is. Anyway I do feel that
there is a bit of Italy
in the piece. The angels
apart there are, in the
short rhythmic agitating
part of the quartet,
reminiscences of the
Italian medieval Trotto
dance, and in the most
expressive part ofthe
piece there are flashes
of Puccini-like music.
From the very beginning
of my work on the
quartet, the distant,
extremely muted sound in
the high register which
opens the piece, was on
my mind. A sound satiated
with a dense heterophonic
and polyphonic texture of
elegiac melody and
vibrating trills. I
imagined that little
songs (maybe angel songs)
could be created in this
density, these songs
constantly echoing
themselves. Gradually as
this sound got a more and
more concrete musical and
instrumental form, I
felt, that not only
should the little songs
be created, played and
die out in an echo, but
also that the general
pattern of the quartet
should give the feeling
of music which, from the
distance, is getting
closer and closer,
culminates and at last
disappears like an echo.
Related to this, the
general pattern of Angels
Music is divided into
three: a pre-echo,
culmination and echo..
The relationship between
the three part is 5: 6:
4. The reason why I can
say this precisely and
prosaically is that it
was necessary to me to
mark the overall
guidelines before I
started to compose. I had
to do this in order to
enable the relationships
to crawl from the small
cells into the general
pattern.'
String Quartet SKU: HL.14030980 Parts. Composed by Bent Sorensen. ...(+)
String Quartet
SKU:
HL.14030980
Parts. Composed by
Bent Sorensen. Music
Sales America. Classical.
Set of Parts. Edition
Wilhelm Hansen #KP00249.
Published by Edition
Wilhelm Hansen
(HL.14030980).
ISBN
9788759871973.
12.0x16.0x0.285
inches.
Score
available: KP00250 The
composer writes: 'Even
when I was writing Adieu,
I knew that I wished to
write Angel's Music. The
title existed in an
incomplete form in my
mind and gradually more
and more ideas and a few
outlines became clear.
The actual work on
Angel's Music was started
in Rome, where I spent
the autumn of 1987
staying at The Danish
Academy. Whether this
stay has influenced the
quartet or not is
impossible to say.
however, it is true to
say that, in the Roman
churches I visited, I saw
countless angels playing
in the top of frescoes
and altars. Without these
angels, together with the
many crackled-gold
paintings in this city
and my general
fascination with the
Italian renaissance
painter Fra Angelico, (in
fact there are only a few
paintings by him in Rome,
but even his name..!) I
am not sure my quartet
would have been what it
is. Anyway I do feel that
there is a bit of Italy
in the piece. The angels
apart there are, in the
short rhythmic agitating
part of the quartet,
reminiscences of the
Italian medieval Trotto
dance, and in the most
expressive part of the
piece there are flashes
of Puccini-like music.
From the very beginning
of my work on the
quartet, the distant,
extremely muted sound in
the high register which
opens the piece, was on
my mind. A sound satiated
with a dense heterophonic
and polyphonic texture of
elegiac melody and
vibrating trills. I
imagined that little
songs (maybe angel songs)
could be created in this
density, these songs
constantly echoing
themselves. Gradually as
this sound got a more and
more concrete musical and
instrumental form, I
felt, that not only
should the little songs
be created, played and
die out in an echo, but
also that the general
pattern of the quartet
should give the feeling
of music which, from the
distance, is getting
closer and closer,
culminates and at last
disappears like an echo.
Related to this, the
general pattern of
Angel's Music is divided
into three: a pre-echo,
culmination and echo..
The relationship between
the three part is 5: 6:
4. The reason why I can
say this precisely and
prosaically is that it
was necessary to me to
mark the overall
guidelines before I
started to compose. I had
to do this in order to
enable the relationships
to crawl from the general
pattern almost
fractionally into the
smallest cells of the
music, or more correctly;
crawl from the small
cells into the general
pattern.'.