Romantic Quartets I

Par LEIVISKA HELVI. Finnish composer Helvi Leiviskä (1902-1982) created a broad-based output of orchestral works, solo songs and chamber music. Her style could be described as moderate modernism, deriving influences from multiple sources such as late Romanticism, Symbolism, Expressionism, Existentialism and Neo-Classicism. Leiviskä's output is characterised by philosophical and religious themes, images of nature and narrative structures. Many of her works focus on human existential angst and spiritual searching and growth. Helvi Leiviskä originally completed her Piano Quartet in A major op. 1 in 1926 but revised it a decade later, in 1935. Written for the traditional piano quartet lineup (violin, viola, cello and piano), the work is in three movements and has a duration of about 25 minutes. It features religious and ecstatic imagery such as may be found in French, German or Russian neo-Romantic styles. Leiviskä's Piano Quartet is considered one of the cornerstones of her chamber music output. Its early version was premiered in two parts at student recitals of the Helsinki Music Institute (the 1st movement in 1925 and the 2nd and 3rd movements in 1926). The revised version was performed in full by Timo Mikkilä (piano), Sulo Aro (violin), Ilmo Ranta (viola) and Pentti Rautawaara (cello) on Finnish radio in 1939. The work was also on the programme of Leiviskä's second composition concert in 1945, being performed on that occasion by Jussi Jalas (piano), Erik Cronvall (violin), Erik Karma (viola) and Yrjö Selin (cello). Two commercial recordings have been released (Finlandia Classics 2012 and Telos Music 2016). It is published for the first time 2022 with an extensive foreword by Susanna Välimäki. The product includes the full score (piano part) and a set of string parts. Duration: c. 25'. Have a look inside by clicking 'sample'. / Date parution : 2022-05-31/ Répertoire / Quatuor avec Piano

This collection of Easy String Quartets includes 5 pieces suitable for players Grade 1-3. The pieces cover a wide range of musical periods and European styles, from Baroque to Romantic, from Italy to Austria and England, to give young players a broad spectrum while acquainting them with the basics of playing chamber music. The compositions included are: Allegretto Op. 72 #3 (Mendelssohn), Allegro Op. 72 #1 (Mendelssohn), Chaconne (King Arthur) (Purcell), Ecossaise In B Minor (Schubert) and Gavotte In A (Martini). Arranged for 2 or 3 Violins, Viola and Cello by Watson Forbes. Includes Parts Only. / Quatuor A Cordes

Par BARTOK BELA. Béla Bartók?s six string quartets, composed between 1908 and 1940, are 20th-century milestones of the genre. His First String Quartet is closely linked to his unhappy love for the violinist Stefi Geyer, to whom he sent the initial measures of its first movement in early 1908 with the remark: ?My song of death?. When he completed all three movements of the work a year later, he had, according to his friend and colleague Zoltán Kodály, written himself ?back into life?. In this First Quartet, Bartók combines late-Romantic sounds with elements of the folk music that had since 1905 been a source of increasing interest to him. This definitive edition, supervised by Bartók scholar László Somfai, is the first-ever Urtext edition of this work. It takes into account both manuscript and printed sources, as well as letters and notes by the composer in which he recorded matters such as modifications to tempo markings. The Henle edition thus offers a musical text edited to the highest scholarly standards, with fascinating information on the work?s compositional history and performance practice. Sensible page turns and cue notes help to make this edition a real ?must have?. / Date parution : 2023-05-06/ Répertoire / Quatuor à Cordes