String Quartets Vol.IV

Maja S. K. Ratkje's Tale Of Lead And Light for String Quartet. Study score. The piece was commissioned by the Engegård Quartet in 2011. On the record String Quartets Vol IV: Schubert-Ratkje-Britten-Haydn. A later piece is made for string orchestra  Tale of Lead and Frozen Light (2014).

String Quartet Version - Parts)-The composer writes: 'The backdrop for this commission was to complement music by the great Ludwig van Beethoven. Beethoven’s scores for string quartet are cornucopias of techniques and musicality. They were certainly not meant for pure entertainment. Ending up with Beethoven’s quartet Op. 59 No. 1 as a reference for this piece I even used elements from this quartet in my own composition. Beethoven’s position as a free artist has been of great importance to all following composers. This is of equal inspiration as his music. As a free artist one has to reflect upon our own time and not be afraid of allowing reality affect our work. When I was in the middle of writingthis piece something horrible happened in my neighbourhood. A bomb exploded in Oslo and a killer shot teenagers on an island summer camp. My nation’s reputation as a peaceful country to live in was drastically and forever changed. It was hard to compose. Papers and online media were soon filled with horrible pictures from the events. The lead-coloured skies being a recurring sight. The ambiguity in the title reflects both hope and dread. Beethoven’s light shines through strong and full of life! The piece was commissioned by the Engegård Quartet in 2011 and appears the recording String Quartets vol IV: Schubert-Ratkje-Britten-Haydn. A later piece was composed for string orchestra: 'Tale of Lead and Frozen Light' (2014)'. The composer writes: 'The backdrop for this commission was to complement music by the great Ludwig van Beethoven. Beethoven’s scores for string quartet are cornucopias of techniques and musicality. They were certainly not meant for pure entertainment. Ending up with Beethoven’s quartet Op. 59 No. 1 as a reference for this piece I even used elements from this quartet in my own composition. Beethoven’s position as a free artist has been of great importance to all following composers. This is of equal inspiration as his music. As a free artist one has to reflect upon our own time and not be afraid of allowing reality affect our work. When I was in the middle of writingthis piece something horrible happened in my neighbourhood. A bomb exploded in Oslo and a killer shot teenagers on an island summer camp. My nation’s reputation as a peaceful country to live in was drastically and forever changed. It was hard to compose. Papers and online media were soon filled with horrible pictures from the events. The lead-coloured skies being a recurring sight. The ambiguity in the title reflects both hope and dread. Beethoven’s light shines through strong and full of life! The piece was commissioned by the Engegård Quartet in 2011 and appears the recording String Quartets vol IV: Schubert-Ratkje-Britten-Haydn. A later piece was composed for string orchestra: 'Tale of Lead and Frozen Light' (2014)'.

10 Fugues For String Quartet Vol. 2. Par BACH JOHANN-SEBASTIAN. The idea for these arrangements came to me whilst listening to the Hagen Quartet's beautiful recording of the fugues that form part of Haydn's 'Sun Quartets', Op. 20. The spirit and influence of J.S. Bach, in particular his Well Tempered Clavier, Book II, courses through these three miraculous Haydn fugues. Like the viol consort, the string quartet suits this kind of composition (the fugue), with all four instruments sufficiently similar in character to each other to match the extraordinary unity and economy of the counterpoint. A string quartet playing Bach fugues is a good example of a harmonious relationship between form andcontent: just as there is a unifying principle behind the construction of the four string instruments, so there is (usually) a single theme or subject that unifies the construction of a four-part fugue. Thus the form enacts the content, telling you something about the text and message within. Apart from Haydn's and a handful of other composers' wondrous creations, there's little fugal writing for string quartet, at least in comparison with the abundance of other forms. This was another reason to make these arrangements. The quartet offers a melodic independence impossible to achieve on a single instrument. And I believe the technical and interpretative challenges posed by this repertoire and ndash - lightness of sound and rhythmic fluidity, for example - will be very valuable to quartets seeking the holy grail: a unified sound. Perhaps the simplest and most compelling reason for this work is that I just love this music more than I can say. These dazzling pieces, mostly fast, bright and in major keys, show Bach at his most playful, funny and mischievous, composing for an instrument rarely associated with these qualities. And so I'm very happy to offer string quartets these little know fugues, written by my favourite composer - a violinist and violist himself, but above all a master / Classique / Date parution : 2018-05-04/ Répertoire / Quatuor à Cordes

Hoffmeister Quartet and Prussian Quartets-Over the next few years all 26 of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's String Quartets will be published by Henle in an Urtext Edition of both score and parts. All previous editions have left much to be desired for example asconcerns the correct placement of dynamic markings.Henle's edition made with the artistic collaboration of the Armida Quartet draws upon the large body of modern knowledge concerning Mozart philology andperformance practice. We begin with what are chronologically speaking the final four quartets: the so-called 'Hoffmeister' Quartet K. 499 and the three 'Prussian' Quartets K. 575 589 and590.