String Quartet No. 4: Illuminations

SKU: HL.49033305

ISBN 9790001137911. UPC: 884088408053. 9.0x12.0x0.202 inches.

String Quartet No. 5 consists of two contrasting movements. The first movement, being present, immediately leads to an atmosphere of high emotional tension. The prevailing atmospheric elements of the music are dramatic and passionate, alternating with each other like a kaleidoscope. In contrast to that, a second theme is intoned three times - an invitation, a memory of the existence of another world, a light-house which illuminates the twilight in which we live so often. But this invitation remains unheard. The first movement concludes with dissonances in the upper register - a cry of utter desperation.The second movement, so distant ... yet so near, is the calm, unhurried vocal section of the quartet. A forgiving, loving look at a world tortured by grief and contradictions. Gradually, the singing becomes more personal, more emotional and more dramatic. The rhythmic figure of a funeral march in the recapitulation of the second movement is a gesture of loss. Eventually, the quartet loses itself in an atmosphere of light-filled grief. Peteris Vask.

SKU: HL.49046188

ISBN 9781540051684. UPC: 888680938703. 9.0x12.0 inches.

When Cuarteto Casals approached me with the idea of illuminating Beethovens quartets anew, you can imagine the many thoughts and feelings that where going through my mind: what a joy, what a great honor What an intriguing head-scratcher! How can you possibly shine a new light on something that is already perfect? Weeks, months went by in search of a common ground between the Master and myself until I finally found it in the realization that a word lays hidden in the St. Johns hymn that gave musical notes their original name: Re, Sol, Ut, Io (D, G, C, B in English music notation) Perfect! “Resolutio” in Latin means both the resolution of aproblem and the re-solution: a re-blend of many elements that will eventually coagulate to make something new. There was finally themelodic and a rhythmical canvas for my piece. On this canvas I wrote the story of a funny little contest, played on a sunny Mediterranean square, between street musicians and Cuarteto Casals just minutes before they are about to go on stage to perform Beethovens Harp Quartet. After all the characters, each in his own way, had the chance to tell their story, a gentle rain starts to fall, dissolving (Re-solving) again the music sheet to eventually leave us with just a white piece of paper for somebody else to continue the Work. (Lucio Franco Amanti).

SKU: HL.50601626

The Works of Giuseppe Verdi is the first critical edition of the composer's oeuvre. Together with his operas, the series offers his songs, choral music and sacred pieces, and string quartet and other instrumental works. This edition of La traviata presents the 1854 version as the main score and also makes available in full score the original 1853 settings of the revised pieces. Fabrizio Della Seta used not only the composer's autograph and many secondary sources but also Verdi's previously unknown sketches. These sketches helped corroborate the original readings and illuminate the work's compositionalstages. The editor's wide-ranging introduction traces the opera's genesis, sources, and performance history, while a detailed critical commentary discusses source problems and ambiguities.