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.
2 violins, viola, violoncello SKU: FG.55011-875-1 Composed by Lotta WennÃ...(+)
2 violins, viola,
violoncello
SKU:
FG.55011-875-1
Composed by Lotta
Wennäkoski. Classical,
contemporary. Score &
parts. Fennica Gehrman
#55011-875-1. Published
by Fennica Gehrman
(FG.55011-875-1).
Lotta
Wennäkoski's Pige
(2021-2022) for string
quartet was commissioned
to be paired with the
Death and the Maiden
quartet by Franz Schubert
(pige is Danish for
girl). The composer
tells:
String Quartet SKU: HL.49045761 Toward the Savage. Composed by Tok...(+)
String Quartet
SKU:
HL.49045761
Toward
the Savage. Composed
by Tokuhide Niimi. String
Ensemble. Classical.
Softcover. 52 pages.
Duration 1110 seconds.
Zen-On #ZN590227.
Published by Zen-On
(HL.49045761).
ISBN
9784115902275.
8.25x11.75x0.145
inches.
Improvisati
onal energy inherent in
music that spouts The
Savage Mind, which is
mentioned by Japanese
musicologist and
anthopologist Masakuni
Kitazawa in his book
Sound as Metaphor, always
fascinates me. One of the
aims of writing this work
was to test whether a
highly refined medium
like a string quartet can
produce the energy.
'Inherent in music'
mentioned above can be
restated as 'inherent in
human being.' Beyond the
intellectual inquiring
mind, I hope this worl is
strongly connected to
'living in the present.'
Tokuhide Niimi.
Special Import
titles are specialty
titles that are not
generally offered for
sale by US based
retailers. These items
must be obtained from our
overseas suppliers. When
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import title, it will be
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warehouse. The shipment
time will be slower than
items shipped directly
from our US warehouse and
may be subject to
delays.
Critical Edition
Hardcover. Composed
by Karol Szymanowski.
PWM. Classical.
Hardcover. 60 pages.
Polskie Wydawnictwo
Muzyczne #9267030.
Published by Polskie
Wydawnictwo Muzyczne
(HL.370494).
ISBN
9781705147009. UPC:
840126994025.
The
First String Quartet in C
major, Op. 37, was
written in the autumn of
1917 and earned
Szymanowski the first
prize in a competition
organized by the Ministry
of Religious and in a
competition organized by
the Ministry of Religious
and Educational Affairs
in January 1922. The
First String Quartet is
notable for its clar and
simple construction. The
first movement is in the
formof a sonata allegro;
the Andantino semplice
(in modo iuna canzone) in
the middle is a cross
between ternary and
variation form. The final
Scherzando alla burlesca
also keeps to the form of
a sonata allegro. The
combinations and
proportions of formal
factors and the treatment
of thematic material
betray a fairly
conventional adoption of
classical models.
Similarly, the expressive
and structural use of
melodic material shows a
respect for traditional
norms. Szymanowski
created, in other works
from the same period, his
own individual type of
melodic line, which was
strongly expressive and
achieved its effect
chiefly by its tonal
qualieties; nevertheless
in this Quartet he
returns to a fluid,
cantilena-like,
symmetrically shaped
melodic line, which runs
along in broad phrases of
a concentrated,
reflective character.
Melody becomes the chief
factor in the development
of the form, both in
thematic usage and in the
application of a more
polyphonic texture.
Harmonic and tonal means
are considerably
simplified in the Quartet
[]. Most of the writing
is linear, or horizontal,
with individual treatment
of each part, the
parallel continuation of
the four sound planes,
almost a matter of
principle. The functions
of the particular
instruments in realizing
these planes are
constantly changing,which
accounts for the even
greater variedy of
tone-colour. The decision
to forego experiment with
forms and sonorities is
reflectedin the overall
approach to musical
expression. The
predominant atmosphere of
restrained emotion, quiet
lyricism and serenity is
strongly suggestive of
classical aestetic
models. (Based on Zofia
Helman Commentary on
Szymanowski Complete
Edition, Vol. B6) (II)
The ''Second String
Quartet'' represents an
interesting attempt to
revert to classical form
coupled with the new
harmonic and tonal
vocabulary worked out
previously in the
''Slopiewnie'', ''Stabat
Mater'' and ''Mazurkas''.
It was also the first
time the composer had
used folk elements in the
framework of a major
classical form. The
''Second String Quartet''
is in a special category
among Szymanowski's
works. Though it dates
from the composer was
still occupied with folk
music, it nevertheless
shows him returning to
classical models, but at
the same time using an
aesthetic of subjective
expression, which gives
the work its own
individual stamp. The
''Second String Quartet''
synthesis of the various
directions in which
Szymanowski was
attempting to develop.
The sonority and texture
used in the first.