The Snowman is a beautifully composed piece for the traditional Christmas time film of the same title. The composer Howard Blake takes the music through the cold wintery sky, floating blissfully as if it was all a dream.The sheet music is beautifully arranged for a string quartet. The perfect addition to anyones festive collection. / Quatuor A Cordes

Born in South Africa, but now an Irish citizen, Kevin Volans' musical idiom has been shaped by an unusually diverse range of experiences, including studies with Stockhausen in Cologne, field trips to South Africa to study traditional music, his own involvement with the New Simplicity movement, his collection of contemporary art and African textiles, friendships with composers like Morton Feldman and Gerald Barry, as well as a love of virtuoso piano music which he performs, broadcasts and records. While having an easily recognised, unique voice, Volans' music resists compartmentalisation. He is as comfortable working in conventional genres as embarking on innovative collaborations with artists of other disciplines.String Quartet #1 (White Man Sleeps) was written for the Kronos Quartet and was first performed by them in July 1986, London.The title 'White Man Sleeps' comes from a moment in nyanga Panpipe music where the performers leave off playing their loud pipes for a few cycles and dance only to the sound of their ankle rattles, to let the white landowner sleep - for a minute or two.'In composing this piece I drew from the following sources: the first movement owes something to the style of Basotho concertina music - the second and fourth movements are drawn from traditional Nyungwe music played by Makina Chirenje and his Nyanga panpipe group at Nsava, Tete, Mozambique, recorded and transcribed by Andrew Tracey (to be found in an article entitled 'The nyanga Panpipe dance' in African Music, Vol.5, #1 (1971) - the third movement derives from the San bow music (recorded by Tony Traill of the University of Witwatersrand) and from Basotho lesiba music, transcribed by myself - in the fifth movement I added my own invented folklore. My approach to the original music was anything but purist - it is played in Western tuning, filtered, slowed down by a few 'time-octaves?, cast into non-African metres (like the 13-beat pattern of the first dance) and redistributed between the players in several ways. I also used interlocking techniques where they were absent in the original models and vice versa' - Kevin VolansDuration 24 minutes. Parts available: CH61205. / Quatuor A Cordes (Conducteur)

A series of popular music for working string quartets. Light enjoyable repertoire pieces and entertaining encores. Each folio contains five pieces. Contents: 'Empty Chairs at Empty Tables', 'I Don't Know To Love Him', 'If I Were A Rich Man', 'Somewhere', 'Tonight'. / Quatuor A Cordes

Set of Parts for Kevin Volans 'White Man Sleeps' for string quartet. (Violin I, Violin II, Viola, Cello). Written for the Kronos Quartet in 1986. Duration 24 minutes. Score available: CH61123 / Quatuor A Cordes

Set of Parts for Nyman's 'In Re Don Giovanni' for amplified string quartet. The arrangement for string quartet was made at the request of Alexander Balanescu for the Bicentenary of Mozart's death in 1991. It was first performed by the Balanescu Quartet at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, 1991. Duration 3 minutes. Full score also available on sale. / Quatuor A Cordes