SKU: HL.14023669
ISBN 9780711977570. 9.0x12.0x0.155 inches.
There are two primary ideas behind this composition, the first being to create and almost orchestral chamber music, the idea for this coming from a performance of the Grosse Fuge performed by the Arditti Quartet. The second idea was to excercise the impressive and oppresive history of the string quartet by making the work a compendium of quotations from quartet repertoire. Influence from Schoenberg can be heard in chromatic, harmonic sequences and modal/diatonic varioations are also actively displayed within the piece. The quartet is written with amplification in mind and it is the composer's preference that it is performed in this way. String Quartet No.1 is dedicated to the memory of Thurston Dart. It was commissioned by the Arditti Quartet and first performed by them on 23 September 1985, Warsaw. Duration 26 minutes. Instrumental parts are available on sale.
SKU: HL.50565830
French.
Born in 1948 in Rome, Philippe Hersant studied music at the Paris Conservatory, notably in the composition class of Andre Jolivet, before residing at the Casa Velasquez from 1970 to 1972 and then at the Villa Medici from 1978 to 1980. Since 1973 he has been a producer for radio broadcasts with France Musiques. Refusing to play tricks with history, Philippe Hersant has forged a language that extends the course of Western music as a whole, and, without ever seeking to establish a school, he was one of the first of his generation to place himself, once more, in the domain of tonality and modality. He does not, for all that, banish all neo-classical tendencies. On the contrary, he champions the mannerism and the deep subjectivity of his memory as sources and guides to creation.
SKU: FG.042-08901-9
ISBN 979-0-042-08901-9.
Sallinen's second quartet (dating from 1960) is an excellent example of motivic development. The Canzona presents a panorama, constantly shifting and gradually revealing new aspects of itself while the basic landscapes from which it grows remain virtually unchanged.
SKU: HH.HH462-FSP
ISBN 9790708146711.
Cicada larvae live underground for years, creeping about slowly and peacefully in the darkness until that sudden, beautiful brief moment when, one warm, damp summer’s eve, they emerge, metamorphosed into a highly mobile life form. Gaily they dance in the sunshine, singing ardently to the trees in all their greenery --- but only for a short while, for, just as suddenly, they are gone. The same process repeats year upon year. The life cycle of this string quartet resembles that of the cicada. Initially, two embryonic cells remain hidden within dense, gloomy note-clusters; over time they evolve into buds, grow and then blossom. They appear for the first time in their adult form in the fast middle section, where they assume the shape of two very popular Chinese folk melodies, Jasmine and Old Six Blows, albeit in wholly chromaticized and defamiliarized variants. After their grand efflorescence, these forms gradually dissolve into transparent wisps of sound.
SKU: CU.EC11508
ISBN 9790215908178.
