Four Play. String quartet: String Quartet: Parts

Thomas Adèsâ??s second work for string quartet The Four Quarters was written for the Emerson Quartet and was premiered by them at Carnegie Hall in 2011. The winner of the 2012 British Composer Award for Chamber Composition the 20-minute work charts the progress of a day. Glassy harmonics typify the opening movement Nightfalls whilst playful pizzicati abound in Serenade Morning Dew. A sombre third movement Days is underpinned by a searching ostinato before the work breaks free from conventional time in The Twenty-Fifth Hour the glittering finale which swings and dances in the unusual time signature of 25/16.

32 Quartets That Can Be Played by Any Combination of String Instruments-Chamber music is an essential part of learning to play an instrument and these versatile quartets are written so that they can be performed by any combination of four string instruments. Arranged by prominent string pedagogue Doris Gazda these pieces will sound full and satisfying with only four players all the way up to a full string orchestra. The selection of music in this collection covers a wide variety of musical styles that will provide hours of enjoyment and performance options. Progressively organized by level of difficulty as the performers advance in their skills these quartets are a welcome addition to the repertoire of all string players.