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.
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.
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 - Grade 5 SKU: HL.14042989 Composed by Pelle Gudmundsen-ho...(+)
String Quartet - Grade 5
SKU: HL.14042989
Composed by Pelle
Gudmundsen-holmgreen.
Music Sales America.
Classical. Softcover.
Composed 2014. Edition
Wilhelm Hansen #WH31937.
Published by Edition
Wilhelm Hansen
(HL.14042989).
ISBN
9788759829240.
English.
All In One for
3 String Quartets was
composed by Pelle
Gudmundsen-Holmgreen
in 2013 (String Quartet
No.12,13 and 14 played
simultaneously).
Gudmundsen
-Holmgreen has written a
collection of three new
string quartets: String
Quartet no. 12,
‘Each in
Each’; String
Quartet no. 13,
‘Mutual
Ordering’, and
String Quartet no. 14,
‘Well-Tuned
Sounds’. Each
quartet can be played on
its own; they can also
played simultaneously in
any combination. When all
three quartets are played
together, as they are
tonight, the combined
work is titled All in
One. About this
collection,
Gudmundsen-Holmgreenwrite
s:
'Some
years ago Kronos and the
vocal group Theatre of
Voices performed three
new pieces, which I had
written for the two
groups: one for Theatre
of Voices (Green), and
two for Kronos (New
Ground and No Ground).
They were played and sung
by each group
independently – but
also both groups together
concurrently, on top of
each other, as a final
gesture. The combined
pieces were called New
Ground Green and No
Ground
Green.
'David liked the idea
(and the result) of pairs
of quartets that could be
played both independently
and simultaneously, and
asked me if the vocal
quartet could be
transformed into a string
quartet. It could not. He
then asked me to repeat
the whole set-up with a
new pair of quartets,
adding also some
percussion instruments,
as was the case with
Green for Theatre of
Voices. Of course this
was tempting. Furthermore
David asked me to make
one of the two new
quartets a little easier
to play. 'I began to
work. The Kronos part of
the pair of quartets
turned out to be tough to
play, as David puts it.
Unfortunately the
‘easier’ one
was tough to play also!
So I had to write one
more, which was then a
little easier still (but
still not easy).
'The three new works can
be played separately and
on top of each other in
many different
combinations, resulting
in different kinds
of.
Wash Rag for String Quartet Quatuor à cordes: 2 violons, alto, violoncelle - Facile LudwigMasters Publications
String Quartet - Grade 3 SKU: AP.36-52703617 Composed by Alan Shulman. Th...(+)
String Quartet - Grade 3
SKU:
AP.36-52703617
Composed by Alan Shulman.
This edition: Latham
Music. Quartet; Solo
Small Ensembles; String -
Quartet. LudwigMasters -
Latham Music. Book.
LudwigMasters
Publications
#36-52703617. Published
by LudwigMasters
Publications
(AP.36-52703617).
UPC:
735816385521.
English.
This
humorous little vignette
for string quartet was
composed in 1979 and was
originally intended to be
published by Piedmont
Music, the ASCAP division
of EB Marks Classical.
For reasons unknown,
however, it remained in
manuscript form until
2021, when a copy of the
composer's autograph
parts was discovered in
the archives of a
completely different Alan
Shulman piece. This newly
engraved Latham Music
edition therefore
represents the first
publication of Shulman's
delightful work, as well
as the first full score.
As the title suggests,
this is a medium-slow
rag, or cakewalk in a
loose AABA form. The
bluesy and graceful main
melody is introduced by
the first violin in a
call and response
exchange with the rest of
the ensemble. The
restatement of the
primary theme is led by
the second violin, with
the entire ensemble
playing pizzicato, having
the effect of playful
mockery. In the B
section, the first violin
earnestly reasserts the
stately grace from the
opening however, the
cello is clearly becoming
restless and decides to
take over the lead just
before the final reprise.
The lighthearted ending
again has the first
violin doing its best to
bring the tune to a
refined conclusion, but
the rest of the group
still has mischief in
mind. After a couple
moments of seeming
confusion, the ensemble
regroups at last and
plays the final riff with
resolute emphasis. If
you're looking to add a
light moment to a recital
program, or looking for a
short, medium level
contest piece that
players and audiences
alike will enjoy, this
little miniature is an
ideal choice!
These products
are currently being
prepared by a new
publisher. While many
items are ready and will
ship on time, some others
may see delays of several
months.
Vistas. Composed
by Shulamit Ran. Set of
Score and Parts. With
Standard notation. 42 +
112 pages. Duration 25
minutes. Theodore Presser
Company #114-40698.
Published by Theodore
Presser Company
(PR.114406980).
UPC:
680160010806.
Shula
mit Ran’s second
string quartet, subtitled
“Vistas,â€
occupies a large canvas
that is cast in a
traditional fourmovement
mold, where the outer
movements present,
explore, and later return
to the work’s
principal musical
materials, surrounding a
slow movement and
scherzo-type third
movement with a trio. In
addition to tempo-based
titles, the individual
movements have subtitles
that are evocative of
each movement’s
character, as follows: I.
Concentric: from the
inside out II. Stasis
III. Flashes IV.
Vistas. My second
string quartet,
“Vistasâ€, is
a work cast in a
traditional four-movement
formal mold, with the
outer movements,
presenting and later
returning to the
work’s principal
musical materials,
surrounding a slow
movement and a
scherzo-type third
movement.While the four
movements’
“properâ€
names -- Maestoso con
forza, Lento, Scherzo
impetuoso, and
Introduzione; Maestoso e
grande – give some
indication of the general
character of the
individual movements, I
have also subtitled, less
formally, each movement
as follows:Â 1)
Concentric:Â from the
inside out 2)Â
Stasis 3) FlashesÂ
4) Vista. The images
evoked by these titles
tell one, I think, a bit
more about the inner
workings of the
quartet.In the first
movement, a prominently
presented opening pitch
(E) reveals itself, as
the movement unfolds, to
be a center of gravity
from which ever-growing
cycles of activity
gradually evolve.Â
While various important
themes come into being as
the movement progresses,
their impact on the
listener has, I believe,
a great deal to do with
their juxtaposition and
relationship to the
initial central point of
gravity.Stasis is, as the
name implies, a movement
where activity seems, at
times, almost
suspended. Being
also, as Webster’s
Dictionary reminds us,
“a state of static
balance and equilibrium
among opposing tendencies
or forces,†it
develops various
materials, including ones
from the first movement,
without bringing them to
points of
resolution.Flashes is
short and very fast,
evoking in my mind the
quick shimmer of
fireflies, a
“sudden burst of
lightâ€, but also a
“brief
timeâ€. Perhaps,
even, a
“smile�Final
ly, the last movement,
Vista, is not only
“a view or
outlookâ€, but also
“a comprehensive
mental view of a series
of remembered or
anticipated
events.â€Â After
a brief recall of the
opening of the second
movement, this movement
brings back all the
important themes of the
first movement in their
original order. But
just as going back can
never really mean going
back in time, the
movement is much more
than recapitulatory.Â
By cutting through
previously transitory
passages and presenting
the main ideas in a
fashion more direct yet
more evolved, it also
sheds new light on
earlier events, offering
a retrospective, synoptic
view of the first
movement as it brings to
culmination the work as a
whole. “Vistasâ
€ was commissioned by
C. Geraldine Freund for
the Taneyev String
Quartet of what was then
Leningrad. It was the
first commission given in
this country to a Soviet
chamber ensemble since
the 1985 cultural
exchange accord between
the Soviet Union and the
United States.
String Quartet (Score) SKU: HL.284555 String Quartet. Composed by ...(+)
String Quartet (Score)
SKU: HL.284555
String Quartet.
Composed by John Luther
Adams. Music Sales
America. Classical.
Softcover. Composed 2018.
74 pages. Chester Music
#CH87868. Published by
Chester Music
(HL.284555).
UPC:
888680912901. 9x12
inches.
Composers
note:
I never
imagined I would write a
string quartet. Then I
heard the JACK Quartet,
and I understood how I
might be able to make the
medium my own. The result
was The Wind in High
Places - a twenty-minute
work composed entirely on
natural harmonics and
open strings.
Over
the next few years, two
more quartets followed.
The second quartet,
untouched, is a further
exploration of the
aeolian sound world of
the first. Then, in
Canticles of the Sky, the
musicians finally touch
the fingerboards of their
instruments.
And
now comes Everything That
Rises.
This fourth
quartet is more
expansive, both in time
and in space. It grows
out of Sila: The Breath
of the World - a
performance-length
choral/orchestral work
composed on a rising
series of sixteen
harmonic
clouds.
Everything
That Rises traverses this
same territory, but in a
much more melodic
way.
Each musician
is a soloist, playing
throughout. They surround
the audience. Time
floats.
Over the
course of an hour, the
lines spin out - always
rising - in acoustically
perfect intervals that
grow progressively
smaller as they spiral
upward... until the music
dissolves into the soft
noise of the bows,
sighing.
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.