String Quartet (Parts)
SKU: HL.14037707
Parts. Composed by
Kevin Volans. Music Sales
America. Contemporary.
Softcover. Composed 2010.
80 pages. Chester Music
#CH7452501. Published by
Chester Music
(HL.14037707).
ISBN
9781849385916. UPC:
884088578626.
8.25x11.75x0.262
inches.
Kevin
Volans' String Quartet
No. 9: Shiva Dances was
commissioned by BBC Radio
3 and first performed by
the Smith Quartet at the
2004 Huddersfield
Contemporary Music
Festival.
Kevin
Volans (the composer)
notes on the
piece:
In the past
I have been interested in
trying to go beyond
historicism (1970s),
beyond style(1980s) and
beyond form (1990s) in my
work. Looking back over
the music of the
twentiethcentury I was
struck by the fact the
nearlyall of it is
extremely 'busy', almost
cluttered. Italmost
seemed that composers
felt compelled to look
industrious. In the new
millennium Ithought it
would be interesting to
try and eliminate
content. I also aspired
to movingfrommusic (sound
as art) to art (art as
sound). This, of course,
has already been done by
a numberof composers
(many from New York -
Phil Niblock and La Monte
Young, to name but two),
butit was something I had
never tried.AlthoughI
found it annoying that
the label 'minimalist'
was given to my
African-based work,and
fearing this would make
the label stick, I set
out to write a piece
which reflected my loveof
minimal painting and
architecture. The
Japanesehave a term
'wabi' meaning
'voluntarypoverty' or
'emptiness' to describe
their restrained minimal
aesthetic, an aesthetic
which,however, pays
greatest attention to the
quality of material and
fine detail. I like to
think thatthelack of
excessive pitch material
in this piece reflects a
kind of voluntary
poverty.When Shiva is
portrayed dancing (as
Nataraj) He is depicted
in a circle of flames
crushing asmall figure -
the ego - underfoot.You
get theimpression He
dances on the spot, not
movingaround at all. I
like that.
The piece
is dedicated to Pablo
Pascual
Cilleruelo.
St. Kevin
