Peter Maxwell Davies: Quartet Movement

SKU: HL.14008374

ISBN 9781846096150. UPC: 884088435202. 8.25x11.75x0.105 inches.

The Full Score for Peter Maxwell Davies' fourth in a series of ten string quartets commissioned by the Naxos Recording company, first performed by the Maggini Quartet on 20th August 2004 at the Chapel of the Royal Palace, Oslo, Norway, as part of the Olso Chamber Music Festival. Composer Note: The fourth Naxos quartet was written in January and February of 2004, with the intention of producing something lighter and much less fierce than its predecessor, an unpremeditated and spontaneous reaction to the illegal invasion of Iraq. I returned to the well-known Brueghel picture of children's games (1560, now in Vienna), which had been the inspiration for my sixth Strathclyde Concerto, for flute and orchestra. These illustrations liberated my musical imagination, but I feel it would limit the listener's perception to be too specific about which game relates to exactly which section of the work. Suffice it to say that there is vigorous play - leap-frog, bind the devil with a cord, truss, wrestling - alongside quieter pastimes - masks, guess whom I shall choose, courting, odds and evens. The single movement juxtaposes these activities as abruptly and intimately as they occur in Brueghel. Rather as the eye is taken into different perspectives and proportions of scale within the picture, taking liberties which would never be present in, for instance, Brunelleschi architectural drawings, so here, with a constant sequence of transformation processes, I have distorted the neat, precise implications of modal progression, expressed in the unison opening phrase (from F to B through A sharp/B flat), so that the ear is led, en route, into the sound equivalents of strange passageways and closed rooms: sicut exposition ludus. As work on the quartet progressed I became aware that I was reading into, and behind the games, adult motives and implications, concerning aggression and war, with their consequences. It was impossible to escape into innocent childhood fantasy. The nature of the F to B progression underlying the whole construction derives from a passage in the development of the first movement of Mahler's Third Symphony, and the opening of Schoenberg's Second String Quartet. However, unlike in these models, here a real - if temporary - sense of resolution occurs at the close of the quartet: as when the curtain falls on the reconciled Count and Countess in 'Figaro' one wonders how long the F/B truce will hold, and games break out again. The quartet is dedicated to Giuseppe Rebecchini, Roman architect, and friend since the nineteen-fifties.

SKU: HL.14008384

ISBN 9781847723970. 8.25x11.75x0.149 inches.

The complete String Quartet score for Maxwell Davies' Quartet No.6. This work was commissioned by the Naxos Recording Company, and is the sixth in a series of ten quartets. It was first performed on 26th April 2005 at the Purcell Room, London by the Maggini Quartet.

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: HL.14022647

ISBN 9781846098611. 5.5x7.5x0.101 inches.

This work was commissioned by the Naxos Recording Company, and is the fifth in a series of ten quartets. It was first performed on 20th October 2004 at the Wigmore Hall, London by the Maggini Quartet.

SKU: HL.14020979

ISBN 9781846091193. UPC: 884088435172. 5.5x7.5x0.125 inches.

The third in the series of ten Quartets commissioned by the Naxos recording company. First performed at Wigmore Hall, London in Oct 2003 by the Maggini Quartet. A convenient, miniature-sized version of the score intended for study. Performance parts are available available: CH67045-01.

SKU: HL.14008409

This is - so far - the earliest composition by Davies to be available for performance, and mighty interesting it is. Written while he was still a young student, it provides a candid glimpse of the thing that concerned him: how music could be both forward-moving in the classical Western sense (this is, after all, a piece for a wholly conventional medium) and repetitive in the manner of the Indian and medieval music in which he was interested. What results is a singular machine geared to an intermittent ostinato in the first violin. This movement for string quartet was first performed by the Arditti Quartet in May 1983, as part of the 40th Anniversary Gala concert of the Society for the Promotion of New Music at the Barbican Hall, London. Score (miniature). Duration c. 5mins.

SKU: HL.14020977

ISBN 9781844498024. 5.5x7.5x0.127 inches.

The first in a series of Ten quartets commissioned by the Naxos recording company. First performed at Wigmore Hall, London in Oct 2002 by the Maggini Quartet. A convenient, miniature-sized version of the score intended for study. Performance parts are available available: CH65648-01.

SKU: HL.14021040

ISBN 9780711989047. 5.75x8.25x0.19 inches.

Study score of the Quintet for Trumpet and String Quartet. This work was commissioned by the University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen City Council and the Cheltenham International Festival of Music. It was first performed on 25th February 1999, by the Yggdrasil Quartet and John Wallace (trumpet). Duration c. 28 minutes. Scored for Trumpet in C, Violin, Viola, Cello. Instrumental parts are available on sale.

SKU: HL.14037418

8.25x11.75x0.374 inches.

The seventh in a series of ten String Quartets composed for Naxos Records between 2001 and 2007, this one is a tribute to the Baroque architect Francesco Borromini.

SKU: HL.14008390

UPC: 884088807443. 8.25x11.75x0.27 inches.

Davies' Brass Quintet study is exuberant in style and does not disapoint with its rare quality being a consistent and fully developed structure and is as substantial as you might expect a string quartet to be. My Brass Quintet attempts to provide the repertory with a work of real chamber music, insofar as the players are involved in an intimate kind of music-making.

SKU: HL.14008410

ISBN 9780711932241. 7.5x9.75x1.362 inches.

This work was commissioned by the City of Darmstadt for the Darmstadt State Theatre. It was first performed in September 1988 at the Staatstheater, Darmstadt. Written for full orchestra with large percussion section, marching band, pop group and electronic vocal quartet. Duration c. 75mins.

SKU: HL.14008433

ISBN 9780711968936.

This is effectively a work in three movements - Allegro, Andante cantabile and Presto - which Davies likens to 'three obstacle courses, bristling with technical difficulties'. However, as he goes on to say, 'young people are naturally gifted with extraordinary rhythmic skills which normally remain untapped'. Given the opportunity, older children have here the material for a highly arresting piece of music-making. Scoring also includes a small wood block, a small temple block and a small suspended cymbal. The xylophones are one each of the following: concert, soprano, alto and bass. The two glockenspiels are soprano and alto and the metallophones are bass and deep bass (a vibraphone may be used instead of the latter). These studies will provide a challenge to all percussionists, for whom there is a distinct shortage of suitable studies. Duration c. 5mins.

SKU: HL.14008383

8.5x11.75x0.35 inches.

The set of parts for Maxwell Davies's Naxos Quartet Six for strings. This work was commissioned by the Naxos Recording Company, and is the sixth in a series of ten quartets. It was first performed on 26th April 2005 at the Purcell Room, London by the Maggini Quartet.