SKU: HL.14022926
ISBN 9788759852675. 8.25x11.75x0.285 inches. English.
Carl Nielsen (1865-1931) was a Danish musician, often seen as his country's greatest composer, who now occupies a distinguished platform in the national and cultural heritage of his native land. The Carl Nielsen Edition is an independent project which aims to publish all of his finished works, in the version last approved by the composer. The Quartet for Strings in G minor (Op. 13) is the earliest of Nielsen's four published quartets, having been composed in 1887-1888, but it was not published for over a decade. It comprises four movements: Allegro Energico - Andante Amoroso - Scherzo. Allegro Molto - Finale. Allegro (Inquieto) .
SKU: PR.114410380
UPC: 680160015160. 9.5 x 13 inches.
My second String Quartet was written twenty years after the first, Opus 4 from 1978. The First Quartet is an obsessively contrapuntal work in one movement, which was no doubt influenced by my studies with David Diamond. I had always intended to return to the medium once I left the astringency of my earlier style, but it was only when the National Federation of Music Clubs commissioned a major chamber work, with unspecified instrumentation, to celebrate their 100th Anniversary that I was enabled to do so. The Second Quartet is in four movements: Moderato, Allegro isterico, an Andante theme with 11 variations, and the closing Allegro, which then returns to the tempo of the first movement. An audience member at the premiere told me that she heard echoes of recent tragic events such as the Oklahoma bombing in this work. While I had no such programmatic intent while writing the quartet, it was not an entirely incorrect assessment of the work's intended emotional impact. The quartet is pervaded by a sense of seriousness, even mournfulness. The second movement's scherzo is an aggressively animated piece of musical machinery. The third movement's Variations unfold into a greater variety of moods than the others - but the moments of lyricism are countered by aggressive or ironic outbursts. The final movement's attempt at triumph quickly subsides into a return of the first movement, before being transformed onto a sense of resignation and acceptance as the chromaticism of the opening theme is transformed into a pure and diatonic C-Major. The work received its world premiere by the Shanghai Quartet at the 100th Anniversary Congress of the National Federation of Music Clubs at the Congress Hotel in Chicago on August 19th 1998.My second String Quartet was written twenty years after the first, Opus 4 from 1978. The First Quartet is an obsessively contrapuntal work in one movement, which was no doubt influenced by my studies with David Diamond. I had always intended to return to the medium once I left the astringency of my earlier style, but it was only when the National Federation of Music Clubs commissioned a major chamber work, with unspecified instrumentation, to celebrate their 100th Anniversary that I was enabled to do so.The Second Quartet is in four movements: Moderato, Allegro isterico, an Andante theme with 11 variations, and the closing Allegro, which then returns to the tempo of the first movement.An audience member at the premiere told me that she heard echoes of recent tragic events such as the Oklahoma bombing in this work. While I had no such programmatic intent while writing the quartet, it was not an entirely incorrect assessment of the work’s intended emotional impact. The quartet is pervaded by a sense of seriousness, even mournfulness. The second movement’s scherzo is an aggressively animated piece of musical machinery. The third movement’s Variations unfold into a greater variety of moods than the others – but the moments of lyricism are countered by aggressive or ironic outbursts. The final movement’s attempt at triumph quickly subsides into a return of the first movement, before being transformed onto a sense of resignation and acceptance as the chromaticism of the opening theme is transformed into a pure and diatonic C-Major.The work received its world premiere by the Shanghai Quartet at the 100th Anniversary Congress of the National Federation of Music Clubs at the Congress Hotel in Chicago on August 19th 1998.
SKU: 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.
SKU: HL.48025043
UPC: 196288021728.
Ignace Strasfogel (1909 - 1994), a master student of Franz Schreker and Leonid Kreutzer, the youngest student at the Berlin Hochschule and the youngest recipient of the prestigious Mendelssohn Prize of the Weimar Republic, made a career as a conductor at the Metropolitan Opera after his emigration in 1934. His String Quartet No. 1, probably written in 1927 as the final work of his studies with Schreker, is an early work of the highest perfection. In the first of the two movements, grotesque-capricious scenariosare revitalized by contrapuntal artistry. The second, non less polypohnic, is a widely branched scherzo with an elegiac trio section. Just as striking is the harmony: With individually shaping of all four parts, all facets up to polytonality and complete detachment from functional tonality are explored - in a certain affinity with the musical language of Alban Berg, not without tongue-in-cheek references to the neoclassicism of the 1920s. A just as original as important contribution to the quartet repertoireof the early twentieth century.
SKU: HL.49018716
ISBN 9790220132339. 9.25x12.0x0.3 inches.
Richard Ayres' Three Small Pieces for String Quartet each have distinct characters that illustrate the composer's vivid imagination and skill for combining energetic, touching and sometimes wild music. The first piece is a short tribute to the Romanian singer Maria Tanase, a long forgotten performer who was once a star in her country. The second is a rough, fast and folk-like section in 11/16 time and the third, subtitled 'Countess Eva von Spendu (on a horse) gallops through the forest (pausing four times to contemplate natural splendour)', contains (in the words of the composer) 'hunting gallops, a Feldmanesque 19 bar blues, some devilish fiddling, moments of repose and contemplation, and a lyrical finale.'.
SKU: BT.SCHEE5332
SKU: BA.BA11525
ISBN 9790260108868. 31 x 24.3 cm inches.
Pavel Haas was one of Leoš Janácek’s most gifted students. His String Quartet No. 2 “From the Monkey Mountains†is considered to be one of the first high points of his oeuvre.In this work, Haas combined elements of Janácek’s compositional technique with jazz, particularly in the fourth movement’s instrumentation for string quartet and percussion ad libitum. This version was premiered in Brno in 1926; later, the work was revised for string quartet only. For this edition Ondrej Pivoda has reconstructed the original version, bringing to light passages that were never published until now.This is the first critical edition of the work. It is based on all relevant sources, taking sketches of the final version of the score and contemporary performance material into account. It includes an extensive Foreword (Cz/Eng/Ger) as well as a Critical Commentary (Eng).
About Barenreiter Urtext
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MUSICOLOGICALLY SOUND - A reliable musical text based on all available sources - A description of the sources - Information on the genesis and history of the work - Valuable notes on performance practice - Includes an introduction with critical commentary explaining source discrepancies and editorial decisions ... AND PRACTICAL - Page-turns, fold-out pages, and cues where you need them - A well-presented layout and a user-friendly format - Excellent print quality - Superior paper and binding
SKU: HH.HH196-FSP
ISBN 9790708092674.
Op. 13, the present set of stylish and skilfully contrasted works were dedicated to Dittersdorf; they exploit all four instruments equally, even the viola being allocated elaborate solo passages, and offer an attractive alternative (as Haydn himself realised) to the standard Viennese works of this period.
SKU: HH.HH361-FSP
ISBN 9790708092094.
This set of four works, all in minor keys, is unique for the energy of the fugal writing, the passionate chromaticism of the slow movements and the playful, asymmetrical phrasing of the final Minuets. The scoring leaves open a range of performance possibilities, from one to a part with or without continuo (following the varying density of figured bass and the instruction senza cembalo) to orchestral performance as suggested by the English Concerto arrangements.
SKU: HL.49043938
ISBN 9790220133923. 9.25x12.0x0.494 inches.
The 3rd String Quartet was originally composed in 1982-3 to a commission from The Adelaide Festival, and premiered by The Petra Quartet in 1983. Subsequent to this quartet, I have composed two more; No. 4 in 1986 and No. 5 in 2002.The offer to re-publish this work, led me to begin by a process of amendment, but ended in the composition of a virtually new quartet! Only parts of the original quartet have been retained. I also chose to 'frame' (in my case this means an inspirational focus and filter), the quartet in a new way too.In Flight Music keeps the 4-movement format of the original quartet, but is now directly linked to a life-long interest in flight. The first two movements are concerned with aspects of humans in flight, whilst the last two deal with insects and birds respectively.Since all my music is these days preceded by visualisations in the form of drawings, wherever possible, this quartet might be performed with the four drawings, one for each movement, back-projected behind the players.Digital copies of these drawings may be obtained from Schott Music.Edward Cowie.Maurens. France. August, 2010.
SKU: HL.49045929
9.0x12.0x0.057 inches.
The Austro-Hungarian composer Erwin Schulhoff (1894-1942) was musically precocious: At the suggestion of AntonÃn Dvorák, he receivedpiano lessons at the age of seven, and at the age of ten became a student at the Prague Conservatory. Further piano studies in Vienna, Cologne and Leipzig as well as composition lessons with Max Reger supplemented his education. His Jewish heritage, which defamed his music as “degenerateâ€, and his sympathy for communism, however, cost him his life. In Prague and finally interned in Wülzburg near Weissenburg in Bavaria, he died of tuberculosis. Schulhoff's musical significance lies in the integration of jazz into art music, for example in his oratorio H.M.S. Royal Oak or in his Hot Sonata for alto saxophone and piano. He earned his living as a jazz pianist for a long time. In August 1922 he wrote four short piano pieces, his Rag Music, to which he added four more phrases in November: released as Partita, also known as Jazz-like Partita - with the fashion dances Ragtime, Foxtrott, Shimmy, Boston and - as No. 7 - a tango. From a piano to a string quartet movement, the arrangement presents itself as a delicate and smart, technically not too difficult sweet, suitable as a diversion or addition in a quartet program.
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SKU: BR.EB-9270
ISBN 9790004185704. 9 x 12 inches.
I fell in love with the remarkable singing of the Tenores di Bitti on hearing their recordings as a student. Their uniquely intense vocal timbre, their harmony, which seemed pure and rough at once, and the sense that this music was, at root, not so much about performance as simply being together in the world, in a community of spirit. At the time, I had no intention of using this music to my own creative ends, but now, here we are: Sardinian Songbook is the second in a cycle of works for the Ligeti Quartet, all based on transcriptions of music from different throat-singing traditions. Like string quartets, the tenores usually sing in groups of four voices, but being free from instruments they stand very close together enabling the resonances of their voices to blend and interact in a special way. The quartet, of course, can only sit so close before their bows clash, so I have chosen instead to reflect this physical closeness inversely, by getting the players to stand increasingly far from one another as the piece progresses. In so doing, the initial state of sonic blend gives way to hocketing lines, opening up the sense of space.Christian Mason, 2018 The four movements may be played separately or as a collection. If played together the following order should be observed (see table of contents).World premiere: Sheffield/UK, Firth Hall, April 14, 2018, Commissioned by Ligeti Quartet.
SKU: BR.EB-9271
ISBN 9790004185711. 0 x 0 inches.
