SKU: PR.114414250
UPC: 680160607846.
Lowell Liebermann's 4th String Quartet was commissioned by the Canandaigua Lake Chamber Music Festival and the Wood Library, Canandaigua, NY, for the Orion Quartet in celebration of their 20th Anniversary. The quartet was premiered by the Orions at the Canandaigua Lake Chamber Music Festival in Rochester, NY on February 9th, 2008. To quote the writer Mark Greenberg: It's a remarkable piece. The mood is elegiacal and meditative, the melodic lines sinuous and searching, the harmonies rich and astonishingly beautiful. Liebermann works within the traditions of Western tonality, but that is a mansion with many rooms. Liebermann inhabits all of them as his expressive purposes require, and he doesn't mind knocking down a wall to create new harmonic spaces. The Fourth Quartet doesn't exactly fit the neoromantic niche into which Liebermann is sometimes placed. Much of the music, especially near the beginning, is a highly advanced and fluid chromatic expressionism with modernist tendencies. Sometimes this roiling cloudscape breaks open to allow a patch of near-classical harmony and almost-resolution. Near the midpoint the clouds lift in leaping modulations. Several chordal passages recall Russian Orthodox chant. Suddenly, when you've begun to think the somber, deliberate pace has gone on a bit too long, Liebermann introduces a kind of hobbled, stilted jazz idiom. The piece dies in pensive quiet.
SKU: PR.11441979S
UPC: 680160681952.
SKU: BT.SLB-00595900
INSSTR inches. French.
A previously unreleased piece by Francis Poulenc, published with permission from the Bibliothèque Historique de la Ville de Paris and Benoît Seringe, secretary of the Association des amis de Francis Poulenc [Association of the Friends ofFrancis Poulenc]. Le Voyageur sans bagage [The Traveller Without Luggage], which had been premiered in 1937 with music by Darius Milhaud, was reprised on 1 April 1944 at the Thé tre de la Michodière; Francis Poulenc was asked to compose new stage music. Theentire unpublished score lay undiscovered until Bérengère de l’Épine, a librarian at the Bibliothèque Historique de la Ville de Paris, announced the existence of a manuscript in the Association de la Régie Thé trale collection.Poulenc finalised the score between 19 and 21 March 1944. It contains nine songs, all written for a small instrumental ensemble including oboe, clarinet, cello and piano. However, at the end of the manuscript, the composer echoes the second song Lent [Slow] and creates another version for cello and piano; curiously, the original version of the song has not been erased in the manuscript. Poulenc seems to suggest that we consider the piece for cello and piano, that we have publishedhere, as a different piece of music. It was premiered on Wednesday 23 January 2013 by Marc Coppey, accompanied by Jean-François Heisser, in the organ auditorium of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), during thesymposium for the fiftieth anniversary of Poulenc’s death.Given in a dramatic context, some elements allow us to get an idea of the character of the piece, which Benoît Seringe, Poulenc’s beneficiary, judiciously chose to name Souvenirs.The main character of Anouilh’s play, Gaston, is suffering from amnesia at the end of World War One. Several families try to claim him; they want him to be their missing relative. The Renaud family prove to be particularly stubborn, but Gaston doesnot recognize himself in the child and young man they depict: a ruthless and violent person. In Act 1 Scene 3, left alone for a moment, overwhelmed by the story of the “old Gaston” that is gradually coming to light, and outraged by the desire ofthose around him to appropriate him (to the detriment of the person he would like to be from now on), he whispers these words: “You all have proof, photographs that look like me, memories as clear as day… I’ve listened to you all and it’s slowlycausing a hybrid person to rise up in me; a person in which there is a piece of each of your sons and nothing of me.” Poulenc chose to place the second piece from his stage music score as these words are spoken.He borrowed part of the material, as he often did, from an earlier composition. In this particular case, the beginning is a recycled version of the “slow and melancholic” section from L’Histoire de Babar , composed between 1940 and 1945, andpremiered in 1946 (unless it is Babar that reuses the musical idea from Voyageur ).The eponymous elephant decides to leave in search of the great forest. He embraces the old lady, promises her he will return and reassures her that he will never forget her. Left alone, the old lady, feeling sad and pensive, wonders when she’ll seeher friend Babar again. The situation is similar to that in Voyageur sans bagage: solitude, sadness, a distressing and introspective time, fear of oblivion, the presence of memories…Pièce inédite de Francis Poulenc, publiée avec l’autorisation de la Bibliothèque historique de la ville de Paris et de Benoît Seringe, secrétaire de l’Association des Amis de Francis Poulenc.Le 1er avril 1944, Le Voyageur sans bagage d’Anouilh, qui avait été créé en 1937 avec de la musique de Darius Milhaud, est repris au Thé tre de la Michodière. Francis Poulenc a été sollicité afin d’écrire une nouvelle musique de scène. On ignoraittout de cette partition inédite, jusqu’au jour où Bérengère de l’Épine, conservateur la Bibliothèque historique de la ville de Paris, nous signala l’existence d’un manuscrit dans le fonds de l’Association de la Régie thé trale.Poulenc mit au point sa partition entre le 19 et le 21 mars 1944. Elle comprend neuf numéros, tous écrits pour un petit effectif instrumental réunissant un hautbois, une clarinette, un violoncelle et un piano.Cependant, la fin de son manuscrit, le compositeur reprend le no 2 Lent et en donne une seconde version, pour violoncelle et piano. Curieusement, la version originale de ce numéro n’est pas biffée dans le manuscrit.Poulenc semble nous inviter considérer comme un morceau distinct cette pièce pour violoncelle et piano dont nous proposons ici l’édition. Elle a été créée par Marc Coppey, accompagné de Jean-François Heisser, lors du concert donné durant lecolloque organisé pour le cinquantenaire du décès de Poulenc, le mercredi 23 janvier 2013, salle d’orgue du Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP).Quelques éléments sur le contexte dramatique permettront de se faire une idée du caractère du morceau, que Benoît Seringe, ayant droit Poulenc, a judicieusement choisi d’intituler Souvenirs.Le personnage principal de la pièce d’Anouilh, Gaston, a été retrouvé amnésique la fin de la Première Guerre Mondiale. Plusieurs familles le réclament. On veut voir en lui un parent disparu. Les Renaud se montrent particulièrement tenaces ; maisGaston ne parvient se reconnaître dans l’enfant et le jeune homme dont on lui trace le portrait : un être violent et sans scrupule. Au tableau 3 de l’acte I, resté seul un moment, écrasé par l’histoire de cet autre lui-même qu’il découvre peu peu, indigné par le désir des personnes qui l’entourent de le ramener elles au détriment de celui qu’il voudrait être désormais, il se murmure ces paroles : « Vous avez tous des preuves, des photographies ressemblantes, des souvenirs précis commedes crimes… je vous écoute tous et je sens surgir peu peu derrière moi un être hybride où il y a un peu de chacun de vos fils et rien de moi »…C’est sur ces mots que Poulenc a choisi de placer le no 2 de sa partition de musique de scène.Comme il le fait souvent, il emprunte une composition antérieure une part de son matériau. Dans ce cas précis, il réutilise pour le début du morceau la section « Lent et mélancolique » de l’Histoire de Babar, composée entre 1940 et 1945, créée en1946 ( moins que ce ne soit Babar qui réutilise l’idée musicale du Voyageur). Le héros-éléphant s’est décidé partir pour retrouver la grande forêt. Il a embrassé la vieille dame, lui a promis de revenir, l’a rassurée : jamais il ne l’oubliera.Restée seule, la vieille dame, triste et pensive, se demande quand elle reverra son ami Babar. La situation est similaire celle du Voyageur sans bagage : solitude, tristesse, instantde trouble et de retour sur soi, crainte de l’oubli, présence des souvenirs….
SKU: PR.114419310
ISBN 9781491114599. UPC: 680160673568.
SKU: HL.49001485
ISBN 9790001017343. UPC: 884088075101. 9.0x12.0x0.12 inches.
SKU: PR.11441038S
UPC: 680160015184. 9 x 12 inches.
SKU: BO.B.2980
ISBN 9788480201285.
Comentarios del Espanol:Obra para voz y cuarteto de cuerda galardonada por la Generalitat de Catalunya el ano 1983 con el premio Eduard Toldra. Consta de tres movimientos y los textos son tres poemas de Rosa Leveroni.
SKU: PR.114423160
ISBN 9781491136058. UPC: 680160688203.
SKU: PR.11440722S
UPC: 680160011148. 9 x 12 inches.
SKU: PR.114410380
UPC: 680160015160. 9.5 x 13 inches.
My second String Quartet was written twenty years after the first, Opus 4 from 1978. The First Quartet is an obsessively contrapuntal work in one movement, which was no doubt influenced by my studies with David Diamond. I had always intended to return to the medium once I left the astringency of my earlier style, but it was only when the National Federation of Music Clubs commissioned a major chamber work, with unspecified instrumentation, to celebrate their 100th Anniversary that I was enabled to do so. The Second Quartet is in four movements: Moderato, Allegro isterico, an Andante theme with 11 variations, and the closing Allegro, which then returns to the tempo of the first movement. An audience member at the premiere told me that she heard echoes of recent tragic events such as the Oklahoma bombing in this work. While I had no such programmatic intent while writing the quartet, it was not an entirely incorrect assessment of the work's intended emotional impact. The quartet is pervaded by a sense of seriousness, even mournfulness. The second movement's scherzo is an aggressively animated piece of musical machinery. The third movement's Variations unfold into a greater variety of moods than the others - but the moments of lyricism are countered by aggressive or ironic outbursts. The final movement's attempt at triumph quickly subsides into a return of the first movement, before being transformed onto a sense of resignation and acceptance as the chromaticism of the opening theme is transformed into a pure and diatonic C-Major. The work received its world premiere by the Shanghai Quartet at the 100th Anniversary Congress of the National Federation of Music Clubs at the Congress Hotel in Chicago on August 19th 1998.My second String Quartet was written twenty years after the first, Opus 4 from 1978. The First Quartet is an obsessively contrapuntal work in one movement, which was no doubt influenced by my studies with David Diamond. I had always intended to return to the medium once I left the astringency of my earlier style, but it was only when the National Federation of Music Clubs commissioned a major chamber work, with unspecified instrumentation, to celebrate their 100th Anniversary that I was enabled to do so.The Second Quartet is in four movements: Moderato, Allegro isterico, an Andante theme with 11 variations, and the closing Allegro, which then returns to the tempo of the first movement.An audience member at the premiere told me that she heard echoes of recent tragic events such as the Oklahoma bombing in this work. While I had no such programmatic intent while writing the quartet, it was not an entirely incorrect assessment of the work’s intended emotional impact. The quartet is pervaded by a sense of seriousness, even mournfulness. The second movement’s scherzo is an aggressively animated piece of musical machinery. The third movement’s Variations unfold into a greater variety of moods than the others – but the moments of lyricism are countered by aggressive or ironic outbursts. The final movement’s attempt at triumph quickly subsides into a return of the first movement, before being transformed onto a sense of resignation and acceptance as the chromaticism of the opening theme is transformed into a pure and diatonic C-Major.The work received its world premiere by the Shanghai Quartet at the 100th Anniversary Congress of the National Federation of Music Clubs at the Congress Hotel in Chicago on August 19th 1998.
SKU: HL.49031755
ISBN 9790001056960. 8.25x11.75x0.105 inches.
SKU: PR.UE030553
ISBN 9783702461393. UPC: 680160529049.
SKU: PR.11441425S
UPC: 680160607860.
SKU: PR.114419790
UPC: 680160681945.
SKU: PR.114414240
UPC: 680160607815. 9 x 12 inches.