Moon River Quatuor à cordes: 2 violons, alto, violoncelle - Intermédiaire De Haske Publications
String Quartet - intermediate SKU: BT.DHP-1175850-070 Composed by Henry M...(+)
String Quartet -
intermediate
SKU:
BT.DHP-1175850-070
Composed by Henry
Mancini. Arranged by Nico
Dezaire. De Haske Pops
for String Quartet. Set
(Score & Parts). Composed
2017. 8 pages. De Haske
Publications #DHP
1175850-070. Published by
De Haske Publications
(BT.DHP-1175850-070).
ISBN 9789043153904.
English-German-French-Dut
ch.
Moon
River was written
especially for Audrey
Hepburn to sing and
originally featured on
the soundtrack for the
movie Breakfast at
Tiffany’s. The
song has been covered by
many other artists and
has remained well-known
for many years. This love
song to a river also
makes a wonderful
instrumental work,
especially so on stringed
instruments. Nico
Dezaire’s
sensitive arrangement for
string quartet gives each
member of the ensemble
the opportunity to play
the wistful
melody.
Het
speciaal voor Audrey
Hepburn geschreven nummer
Moon River maakte
oorspronkelijk deel uit
van de soundtrack voor de
film Breakfast at
Tiffany’s. Al
snel werd het echter door
vele zangers en
zangeressen gecoverd en
ontpopte het zich
blijvend tot een
wereldwijde hit. Dit
liefdesliedje voor een
rivier is ook een
heerlijk instrumentaal
werkje, vooral voor
strijkinstrumenten. Nico
Dezaires gevoelige
arrangement voor
strijkkwartet geeft elk
lid van het ensemble de
gelegenheid om de
weemoedige melodie te
spelen.
Moon
River war
ursprünglich Teil des
Soundtracks zum
Hollywood-Klassiker
Breakfast at
Tiffany's und der
jungen Audrey Hepburn auf
den Leib geschrieben.
Schon bald wurde der Song
von zahlreichen
Sängern gecovert und
trat so seinen Siegeszug
um die Welt an, der bis
heute anhält. Diese
musikalische
Liebeserklärung an
einen Fluss lässt sich
natürlich auch bestens
instrumental darstellen,
besonders schön auf
Streichinstrumenten. Nico
Dezaire lässt in
seinem einfühlsamen
Arrangement für
Streichquartett jeden der
vier Musiker an der
sehnsuchtsvollen Melodie
teilhaben.
You Are My Sunshine Quatuor à cordes: 2 violons, alto, violoncelle - Facile De Haske Publications
String Quartet - early intermediate SKU: BT.DHP-1196191-070 Composed by J...(+)
String Quartet - early
intermediate
SKU:
BT.DHP-1196191-070
Composed by Jimmie Davis,
Charles Mitchell.
Arranged by Nico Dezaire.
De Haske Pops for String
Quartet. Set (Score &
Parts). Composed 2019. De
Haske Publications #DHP
1196191-070. Published by
De Haske Publications
(BT.DHP-1196191-070).
ISBN 9789043157988.
English-German-French-Dut
ch.
With its
simple, memorable melody
and folk-song style,
You Are My
Sunshine is
undoubtedly one of
America’s most
successful old-time music
love songs. Its success
in the 1940s massively
boosted the popularity of
the song’s singer
and guitarist, Jimmie
Davis and Charles
Mitchell, so much so that
it helped to springboard
Davis’ political
career, culminating in
his successful election
as Governor of Louisiana
in 1944. Dezaire’s
skilful arrangement
retains the
quintessential country
sound of the original
with this new string
quartet
orchestration.
You Are My Sunshine
is een liefdesliedje in
de Amerikaanse
old-time-muziektraditie
met een eenvoudige,
volksliedachtige en
bijzonder aanstekelijke
melodie. Zanger Jimmie
Davis en gitarist Charles
Mitchell werden er in de
jaren 1940 enorm populair
mee. Het succes gaf Davis
zelfs een beslissende
boost in zijn politieke
carrière, die hij
bekroonde met zijn
verkiezing tot gouverneur
van de Amerikaanse staat
Louisiana. Nico Dezaire
heeft met dit arrangement
de kenmerkende
countrysound van het
origineel op vakkundige
wijze bewerkt voor
strijkkwartet.
You Are My Sunshine
ist ein Lovesong in der
Tradition der
US-amerikanischen
Old-Time Music, dessen
einfache, volksliedartige
Melodie sich sofort
einprägt. Sänger
Jimmie Davis und
Gitarrist Charles
Mitchell erlangten mit
diesem Titel in den
1940er-Jahren eine enorme
Popularität. Bei Davis
beflügelte dieser
Erfolg sogar
maßgeblich seine
politische Karriere, die
er mit seiner Wahl zum
Gouverneur des
US-Bundesstaats Louisiana
krönen konnte. Nico
Dezaire setzt in seiner
Bearbeitung den typischen
Country-Sound des
Originals gekonnt auf
eine
Streichquartett-Besetzung
um.
Yesterday Quatuor à cordes: 2 violons, alto, violoncelle - Intermédiaire De Haske Publications
String Quartet - intermediate SKU: BT.DHP-1175851-070 As performed by ...(+)
String Quartet -
intermediate
SKU:
BT.DHP-1175851-070
As performed by The
Beatles. Composed by
John Lennon and Paul
McCartney. Arranged by
Nico Dezaire. De Haske
Pops for String Quartet.
Set (Score and Parts).
Composed 2017. De Haske
Publications #DHP
1175851-070. Published by
De Haske Publications
(BT.DHP-1175851-070).
ISBN 9789043153829.
English-German-French-Dut
ch.
Almost no other
song in the history of
pop has been covered in
as many versions as the
Beatles classic
Yesterday from
1965. The original
contains a string quartet
accompaniment that
provides the perfect
backing for Paul
McCartneyâ??s vocal and
guitar parts. Nico
Dezaire's arrangement
recreates the
unmistakable sound of the
original whilst giving
the impression that the
entire song ideal was
always meant to be played
by string instruments.
Bijna geen andere
song in de geschiedenis
van de pop is in zo veel
verschillende versies
gecoverd als
Yesterday, de
Beatles-klassieker uit
1965. Het origineel heeft
een
strijkkwartetbegeleiding
die de perfecte backing
vormt voor de zang en het
gitaarspel van Paul
McCartney. Vanuit dat
gegeven is het maar een
kleine stap naar een
arrangement van de song
voor alleen
strijkkwartet. Deze
bewerking van Nico
Dezaire roept de
oorspronkelijke sound op
en geeft tegelijkertijd
het idee dat niet alleen
de begeleiding maar ook
de melodie altijd al
bedoeld was geweest om
door strijkinstrumenten
te worden
gespeeld.
Wohl
kaum ein anderer Song der
Popgeschichte wurde in so
vielen verschiedenen
Versionen bearbeitet wie
der Beatles-Klassiker
Yesterday aus dem
Jahr 1965. Im Original
bildet eine
Streichquartett-Begleitun
g die perfekte klangliche
Grundlage für Paul
McCartneys Sologesang und
sein Gitarrenspiel. Was
also liegt näher, als
den Evergreen gleich in
Streichquartett-Besetzung
aufzuführen? Nico
Dezaires Bearbeitung
lässt den Sound der
Originalversion
unverkennbar durchklingen
und vermittelt doch den
Eindruck, als sei nicht
nur die Begleitung,
sondern auch die Melodie
selbst schon immer von
Streichinstrumenten
gespielt worden ...
String Quartet SKU: BT.EMBZ14386 Composed by Balázs Horváth. EMB Co...(+)
String Quartet
SKU:
BT.EMBZ14386
Composed
by Balázs Horváth.
EMB Contemporary Music.
Contemporary Music. Book
Only. Composed 2014. 40
pages. Editio Musica
Budapest #EMBZ14386.
Published by Editio
Musica Budapest
(BT.EMBZ14386).
''The four
parts of the piece
originate from the piano
cycles of Johannes
Brahms. The identical
nature of the themes is
implied in their
descending direction,
while their differences
lie in their distinct
meters, key signatures
and tempo. I further
developed the differences
through the use of
different musical
alterations (of melody,
rhythm and timbre) while
the melodic contours are
always constant.
Depending on the
listener's attention, the
melody lines written
above one another will be
audible separately or
appear to be in unison.''
(Balázs
Horváth)
''Der
Stoff der vier Stimmen
des Stückes stammt aus
den Klavierzyklen von
Johannes Brahms. Die
Ãœbereinstimmung liegt
in ihrer abwärts
tendierenden Richtung,
ihr Unterschied hingegen
in abweichender Metrik,
Tonart und Tempi. Die
Unterschiede habe ich mit
Hilfe unterschiedlicher
musikalischer
(melodischer,
rhythmischer und tonaler)
Veränderungen
weitergewoben, während
die Struktur der Melodien
immer konstant bleibt.
Die übereinander
gelegten Melodienbögen
erklingen abhängig von
der Aufmerksamkeit des
Hörers teils jede
für sich, teils eine
Einheit bildend.''
(Balázs
Horváth).
String Quartet (2vl,va,vc) SKU: BR.EB-9402 Composed by Mochizuki. Chamber...(+)
String Quartet
(2vl,va,vc)
SKU:
BR.EB-9402
Composed
by Mochizuki. Chamber
music. Edition Breitkopf.
Music post-1945; New
music (post-2000). Full
score. Composed 2020.
Duration 7'. Breitkopf
and Haertel #EB 9402.
Published by Breitkopf
and Haertel (BR.EB-9402).
ISBN 9790004188767. 0
x 0
inches.
<>
est la quatrieme piece
(ou le quatrieme
mouvement) de mon cycle
<> pour quatuor a
cordes, base sur les
recherches recentes
concernant le
fonctionnement du
cerveau. La piece
s'inspire egalement de
l'interpretation de la
genese du monde telle
qu'abordee dans les
anciens livres japonais,
ou la premiere divinite
creee une deuxieme entite
pensee comme un
<>. C'est a
partir de l'harmonie de
ces deux etres que
naitront par la suite les
nombreux esprits lies a
la cosmogonie japonaise.
J'ai repris cette image
dans ma piece, ou une
sorte de note contenue
dans l'ostinato percussif
du violoncelle
(<>) sera
revelee progressivement
par une note tiree et
vibree au second violon.
Cette vibration, qui
s'accentue dans le
discours devient a la
fois une <>
reprise par l'alto et des
glissandi joues au
premier violon. D'apres
certaines etudes, le
rythme et la melodie ne
stimulent pas les memes
zones du cerveau, cette
construction permet ainsi
l'emergence d'une
communaute de quatre
differentes personnalites
qui s'observent les unes
les autres ; elles
arrivent a imaginer, a
anticiper et meme a
participer a la
realisation des
comportements des autres,
par un processus propre
au fonctionnement du
cerveau nomme
<>. (Misato
Mochizuki,
2000)
World
premiere: Luxembourg,
Philharmonie, October 12,
2020 (Aris-Quartett)
Commissioned by the ECHO
(European Concert Hall
Organisation) for the
Rising Stars-Project.
String Quartet SKU: HL.14041525 Composed by Per Norgard. Music Sales Amer...(+)
String Quartet
SKU:
HL.14041525
Composed
by Per Norgard. Music
Sales America.
Contemporary Music. Set
of Parts. Edition Wilhelm
Hansen #KP01585A.
Published by Edition
Wilhelm Hansen
(HL.14041525).
ISBN
9788759871829. UPC:
196288071020.
9.5x14.25x0.167 inches.
Danish-English.
Pro
gramme Note During the
composition of my tenth
string quartet a
flower-name, host-tidlos,
came to my mind - and it
would not me leave again.
[hosttidlos is actually
autumn crocus in English,
but the composer prefers
harvest-timeless, to
maintain some of the
associations of the
Danish flower-name, red.]
The paradoxical union of
a seasonal time (harvest)
and no-time-at-all was a
good fit to the sections
of the work that I had
composed at that time,
and I decided to
tentatively stick to that
title for the
work-in-progress, and
now, having finished the
piece, I can say that is
is still a fitting title
- and it stands. Enough
about the title, I will
go on to describe
themusic, a somewhat more
precarious project. My
tenth string quartet is
probably the most basic
string quartet that I
have composed:
melodically - and in
sound - it employs the
naturally based overtones
and undertones (perceived
at major and minor,
respectively), and
rhythmically it is based
on growth, on the
principles of the Golden
Section, and the
structure itself
contrasts abundance and
exuberance with sections
of immobility and
contemplation. However,
Melos, melody, is
definitely the dominating
aspect of my STRING
QUARTET NO. 10: behind
even the most
rhythmically complex or
pure sonoric sections
lies a firm - if hidden -
basis of melodic or
polyphonic ideas. The
work was composed in
2004-2005 for the Kroger
Quartet.
String Quartet SKU: HL.14041524 Composed by Per Norgard. Music Sales Amer...(+)
String Quartet
SKU:
HL.14041524
Composed
by Per Norgard. Music
Sales America.
Contemporary Music.
Score. Edition Wilhelm
Hansen #KP01585.
Published by Edition
Wilhelm Hansen
(HL.14041524).
ISBN
9788759871812.
Danish-English.
Pro
gramme Note During the
composition of my tenth
string quartet a
flower-name, host-tidlos,
came to my mind - and it
would not me leave again.
[hosttidlos is actually
autumn crocus in English,
but the composer prefers
harvest-timeless, to
maintain some of the
associations of the
Danish flower-name, red.]
The paradoxical union of
a seasonal time (harvest)
and no-time-at-all was a
good fit to the sections
of the work that I had
composed at that time,
and I decided to
tentatively stick to that
title for the
work-in-progress, and
now, having finished the
piece, I can say that is
is still a fitting title
- and it stands. Enough
about the title, I will
go on to describe
themusic, a somewhat more
precarious project. My
tenth string quartet is
probably the most basic
string quartet that I
have composed:
melodically - and in
sound - it employs the
naturally based overtones
and undertones (perceived
at major and minor,
respectively), and
rhythmically it is based
on growth, on the
principles of the Golden
Section, and the
structure itself
contrasts abundance and
exuberance with sections
of immobility and
contemplation. However,
Melos, melody, is
definitely the dominating
aspect of my STRING
QUARTET NO. 10: behind
even the most
rhythmically complex or
pure sonoric sections
lies a firm - if hidden -
basis of melodic or
polyphonic ideas. The
work was composed in
2004-2005 for the Kroger
Quartet.
Music for Celebrations Quatuor à cordes: 2 violons, alto, violoncelle - Intermédiaire De Haske Publications
String Quartet - intermediate SKU: BT.DHP-1196088-070 Collection of fe...(+)
String Quartet -
intermediate
SKU:
BT.DHP-1196088-070
Collection of festive
and solemn classical
pieces. Arranged by
Anthony Gröger. De
Haske String Series.
Classical. Set (Score &
Parts). Composed 2020. 32
pages. De Haske
Publications #DHP
1196088-070. Published by
De Haske Publications
(BT.DHP-1196088-070).
ISBN 9789043158572.
English-German-French-Dut
ch.
No matter the
occasion, string quartets
are always in demand.
Music for
Celebrations features
eight works by composers
ranging from Marc-Antoine
Charpentier to Charles
Gounod which rank among
the most popular wedding
classics, with many of
the pieces also well
suited for other
occasions. The arranger
Anthony Gröger has
succeeded in transforming
the works, some of which
originally had extensive
instrumentation, into
compelling string quartet
arrangements that are
also easy to play while
preserving much of the
familiar character of the
originals. The third
violin part, which can
replace the viola part if
no violist is available,
is an added
bonus.
Er is
altijd vraag naar
strijkkwartetten voor
diverse feestelijke
gelegenheden. Music
for Celebrations
bevat acht werken van
verschillende bekende
componisten, van
Marc-Antoine Charpentier
tot Charles Gounod, die
behoren tot de meest
geliefde klassiekers voor
bruiloften, maar veelal
eveneens geschikt zijn
voor andere gelegenheden.
Arrangeur Anthony
Gröger is erin
geslaagd de stukken
waarvan sommige
oorspronkelijk voor een
omvangrijke
instrumentatie zijn
geschreven te
transformeren tot
overtuigende, goed
speelbare muziek voor
strijkkwartetbezetting,
waarin het vertrouwde
klankbeeld grotendeels
behouden is gebleven. Een
handig extraatje is de
toegevoegde
derdevioolpartij, die de
altvioolpartij kan
vervangen als er geen
altviolist beschikbaar
is.
Bei
festlichen Anlässen
diverser Art sind
Streichquartette immer
wieder gefragt. In
Music for
Celebrations sind
acht Kompositionen von
Marc-Antoine Charpentier
bis Charles Gounod
versammelt, die besonders
auf Hochzeitsfeiern zu
den beliebtesten
Klassikern zählen,
wobei viele der Stücke
sich auch für andere
Gelegenheiten bestens
eignen. Dem Arrangeur
Anthony Gröger ist es
gelungen, die teilweise
umfangreich besetzten
Originalwerke in
überzeugende, gut
spielbare
Streichquartettsätze
zu verwandeln und dabei
viel vom vertrauten
Klangbild zu bewahren.
Ein Bonbon ist die
zusätzlich beiliegende
dritte Violinstimme, die
anstelle der
Bratschenstimme genutzt
werdenkann, falls kein
Bratschist zur
Verfügung steht.
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.
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.