SKU: FG.042-08869-2

ISBN 979-0-042-08869-2.

String Quartet (1985) - In memoriam Urmas Kibuspuu. This impressive two-movement string quartet by the popular young Estonian composer Erkki-Sven Tuur (b. 1959) displays minimalist influences. The most pronounced ostinato tendencies are in the first violin, which repeats the same motif for several bars while the other instruments accompany it with their own recurring motifs. Released on the BIS label, the quartet is dedicated to the memory of a friend of Tuur's, the Estonian actor Urmas Kibuspuu.

SKU: 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.

SKU: HL.14020978

ISBN 9781844498802. 5.5x7.5x0.147 inches.

The second of the Quartets commissioned by the Naxos label was completed in January 2003. This work swings between nervous virtuosic energy to the serene calm of an extended Lento, with exotic harmonies reminiscent of Bartok, and is characterised by it's sharp and unpredictable contrasts. First performed by the Maggini Quartet on 11 July 2003 at the Pittville Pump Room, Cheltenham, as part of the Cheltenham International Festival. This is the score in a pocket-size format. The set of parts is available, catalogue number CH66594-01.

SKU: BR.PB-5708-07

ISBN 9790004216453. 6.5 x 9 inches.

When his musical triad op. 192 was created in the winter of 1873/74, Raff was one of Germany's most successful composers and the central artistic authority in the Hessian spa, royal residence and imperial city of Wiesbaden. With op. 192, Raff cultivated his reputation as an erudite composer who was a master of contrapuntal forms. By the time the string quartets were composed, he had already established himself as one of the most prolific and versatile suite composers of the 19th century, as is evident here in the various suite conceptions: Opus 192 No. 1 (in C minor), as Suite in the ancient style, has with Baroque labels stylized dance movements follow one another. Die schone Mullerin [The Fair Maid of the Mill] op. 192 No. 2 (in D major), on the other hand, interprets the suite as a sequence of chapters in a musical narrative and thus becomes probably the first tone poem in string quartet scoring. In the third quartet (in C major), of which Raff the artist was proudest, other genre designations mix in among the dance movements, and with its free succession of different movement types, not usual for a sonata, it preserves structural openness. In collaboration with the Joachim-Raff-Archiv Lachen (CH)

Some eighteen years elapsed between Raff's first counted String Quartet op. 77 and his Quartets Nos. 6-8 op. 192, combined as one work. As such, Raff parted with the weighty single opus in quartet composition - without, however, sacrificing musical quality.

SKU: BT.PMC3995

Based on manuscript sources held in the Artur Schnabel Archive of the Academy of Arts in Berlin. With a composer biography and detailed notes on the music.