String Quartet
SKU:
HL.14023641
Composed
by Michael Nyman. Music
Sales America. 20th
Century. Score. Composed
1993. 80 pages. Chester
Music #CH61116. Published
by Chester Music
(HL.14023641).
ISBN
9780711964082.
9.0x12.0x0.219
inches.
String
Quartet No.4 was written
for the Camilli Quartet
who gave the first
performance at the Queen
Elizabeth Hall, London,
April 1995. It is
dedicated to the memory
of Nyman's composition
teacher, Alan Bush. This
quartet is a narrative
made up of a chain of
twelve complete but often
cross-related movements,
each quite simple in
design. For instance, the
Scottish melody first
heard in the second half
of I is hinted at in the
2nd violin/viola in the
second fast section of II
and is directly quoted
again during III and XII.
The theme of the fast
section of IV is taken up
again in VIII; IX reverts
to the mood of the
opening of I, while the
rising scale/syncopated
themes of II, IX and the
bass of X and XII are
related. X also
reintroduces the slow
harmonics theme from VII.
XII is (apparently) cast
in the form of a baroque
French rondeau. The main
theme of VI was plucked
out of the Quartet and
used in my score for
Christopher Hampton's
film Carrington. Duration
40 minutes. A set of
parts is available for
sale.