String Quartet S.s. (1934)

Par BARTOK BELA. Bartok's 'String Quartet No. 5' was commissioned by the formidable Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, leading patron of chamber music in the U.S. in the first half of the 20th century. Bartok is alleged to have composed the work in a one-month span of isolation in 1934, and it received its premiere in Washington, D.C. by the Kolisch Quartet in 1935. The String Quartet No. 5 was published shortly thereafter by Universal Edition, who now incorporates the score into their UE Study Score Series in a handsome new publication./ Répertoire / Quatuor à Cordes

Farewell to philosophy I have a great fondness for the lower string instruments: I am a bass player, my mother is a cellist, as are both my daughters; my own ensemble includes two violas, a cello and a bass, and for the instrumentation of my opera Medea I omit the entire violin section from the orchestra. As I have written a number of works for solo instrument or voice with orchestra I welcomed the opportunity to write a concerto for cello and orchestra and especially one which focuses particularly on the instrument’s lyrical qualities. Although the piece is in one continuous movement, and the soloist is playing almost without a break, it nevertheless falls into distinct sections which are recognisable by a shift of tempo as well as by a change in the music’s character. One of the early ideas Julian Lloyd Webber and I discussed was that it might form a companion piece to one of the Haydn concertos. Given my friendship with some members of the English Chamber Orchestra and my awareness of their repertoire, this suggested a number of particular musical references. The subtitle to the work, for example, combines the subtitles of two idiosyncratic Haydn symphonies and I allude to them in different ways but chiefly through orchestration: for The Philosopher by including a section in the concerto where the orchestration resembles that of the symphony’s first movement (pairs of English and French horns, muted violins and unmuted lower strings); for The Farewell, by the progressive reduction in the orchestration towards the end. Indeed, apart from the orchestral tutti in the last few bars, the last pages of the score are virtually for string quartet. The subtitle also refers to my own background as a philosophy graduate... The piece was commissioned by Philips Classics for Julian Lloyd Webber and is dedicated to him. The first performance was given by Julian Lloyd Webber and the English Chamber Orchestra conducted by James Judd, 21 November 1995, Barbican Hall, London.

The Concerto For Alto Saxophone And Orchestra is Alexander Glazunov’s last work; since its first performance in 1934 it has become part of the standard Saxophone repertoire. The sole surviving autograph manuscript is the hand-written dedication score given by Glazunov to Sigurd Raschèr (Raschèr was the founder and leader of the well-known and innovative Raschèr Saxophone Quartet).This score contains the original version of the work without the alterations which were made in the proofs to the orchestral score as well as the full version of the composer’s cadenza which was later shortened. The autograph manuscript also containssome performance markings by Raschèr.The correspondence between Raschèr and Glazunov documents the composer’s thoughts on the work and his recommendations about the size of the accompanying String Orchestra. Evidence from this correspondence has been integrated into this edition.This first scholarly-critical edition of a work by Glazunov contains an informative introduction with commentaries about the history of its composition facsimiles and a critical commentary.The solo part includes both the complete and the shortened version of the cadenza as well as a cadenza by Raschèr which the composer authorised.- Includes the original and new solo cadenzas.- With helpful performance tips by Carina Raschèr the daughter of Sigurd Raschèr.- With an Urtext solo Saxophone part and a second part prepared by Carina Raschèr.- Informative foreword (Ger/Eng).- Full score & performance material (BA8732) and Saxophone & Piano reduction (BA8732-90) available for sale.

The Concerto For Alto Saxophone And Orchestra is Alexander Glazunov’s last work; since its first performance in 1934 it has become part of the standard Saxophone repertoire. The sole surviving autograph manuscript is the hand-written dedication score given by Glazunov to Sigurd Raschèr (Raschèr was the founder and leader of the well-known and innovative Raschèr Saxophone Quartet).This score contains the original version of the work without the alterations which were made in the proofs to the orchestral score as well as the full version of the composer’s cadenza which was later shortened. The autograph manuscript also containssome performance markings by Raschèr.The correspondence between Raschèr and Glazunov documents the composer’s thoughts on the work and his recommendations about the size of the accompanying String Orchestra. Evidence from this correspondence has been integrated into this edition.This first scholarly-critical edition of a work by Glazunov contains an informative introduction with commentaries about the history of its composition facsimiles and a critical commentary.The solo part includes both the complete and the shortened version of the cadenza as well as a cadenza by Raschèr which the composer authorised.- Includes the original and new solo cadenzas.- With helpful performance tips by Carina Raschèr the daughter of Sigurd Raschèr.- With an Urtext solo Saxophone part and a second part prepared by Carina Raschèr.- Informative foreword (Ger/Eng).- Full score & performance material (BA8732) and Saxophone & Piano reduction (BA8732-90) available for sale.

The Concerto For Alto Saxophone And Orchestra is Alexander Glazunov’s last work; since its first performance in 1934 it has become part of the standard Saxophone repertoire. The sole surviving autograph manuscript is the hand-written dedication score given by Glazunov to Sigurd Raschèr (Raschèr was the founder and leader of the well-known and innovative Raschèr Saxophone Quartet).This score contains the original version of the work without the alterations which were made in the proofs to the orchestral score as well as the full version of the composer’s cadenza which was later shortened. The autograph manuscript also containssome performance markings by Raschèr.The correspondence between Raschèr and Glazunov documents the composer’s thoughts on the work and his recommendations about the size of the accompanying String Orchestra. Evidence from this correspondence has been integrated into this edition.This first scholarly-critical edition of a work by Glazunov contains an informative introduction with commentaries about the history of its composition facsimiles and a critical commentary.The solo part includes both the complete and the shortened version of the cadenza as well as a cadenza by Raschèr which the composer authorised.- Includes the original and new solo cadenzas.- With helpful performance tips by Carina Raschèr the daughter of Sigurd Raschèr.- With an Urtext solo Saxophone part and a second part prepared by Carina Raschèr.- Informative foreword (Ger/Eng).- Full score & performance material (BA8732) and Saxophone & Piano reduction (BA8732-90) available for sale.

The Concerto For Alto Saxophone And Orchestra is Alexander Glazunov’s last work; since its first performance in 1934 it has become part of the standard Saxophone repertoire. The sole surviving autograph manuscript is the hand-written dedication score given by Glazunov to Sigurd Raschèr (Raschèr was the founder and leader of the well-known and innovative Raschèr Saxophone Quartet).This score contains the original version of the work without the alterations which were made in the proofs to the orchestral score as well as the full version of the composer’s cadenza which was later shortened. The autograph manuscript also containssome performance markings by Raschèr.The correspondence between Raschèr and Glazunov documents the composer’s thoughts on the work and his recommendations about the size of the accompanying String Orchestra. Evidence from this correspondence has been integrated into this edition.This first scholarly-critical edition of a work by Glazunov contains an informative introduction with commentaries about the history of its composition facsimiles and a critical commentary.The solo part includes both the complete and the shortened version of the cadenza as well as a cadenza by Raschèr which the composer authorised.- Includes the original and new solo cadenzas.- With helpful performance tips by Carina Raschèr the daughter of Sigurd Raschèr.- With an Urtext solo Saxophone part and a second part prepared by Carina Raschèr.- Informative foreword (Ger/Eng).- Full score & performance material (BA8732) and Saxophone & Piano reduction (BA8732-90) available for sale.