Strolling Strings Vol. 1-A collection of some of the most popular tunes of all-time arranged for easy level Double Bass with Piano accompaniment by James 'Red' McLeod.

Conducteur

Pierre Vachon naquit à Avignon en 1738. Il fut un brillant violoniste qui se produisit sur les plus grandes scènes à Paris, Londres et Berlin. Il fut nommé en 1786 Konzertmeister de l'Orchestre royal de Berlin. C'est également un compositeur qui excellait dans la musique instrumentale : symphonies, sonates, duettos, trio et surtout une trentaine de quatuors à cordes de très belle facture, parmi les meilleures productions françaises en cette fin de 18e siècle.

Les éditeurs parisiens signalaient sous le terme de « quatuor concertant » des 'uvres plus particulièrement composées dans un souci d'équilibre entre les deux violons, l'alto et le violoncelle, comme les 6 quatuors publiés ici. Ces 'uvres mettent en valeur chacune des 4 parties dans une très belle texture contrapuntique. Elles étaient destinés aux « amateurs » (terme qui désignait alors des instrumentistes souvent de très bon niveau) qui prenaient plaisir à jouant ensemble.

Les 6 quatuors à cordes de l'opus XI sont tous très différents les uns des autres bien qu'ils soient tous en 3 mouvements faisant alterner les modes et les tempi et s'ouvrent par un Moderato. Ces oeuvres durent entre 10 et 20 minutes. Contrairement à l'opus VII, dont le numéro 2 est publié aux Éditions du Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles, ils ne comportent aucun chiffrage à la basse, ce qui semble privilégier une interprétation sans basse continue. On pourra rapprocher ces 'uvres des quatuors déjà publiés de Gossec.

Par LIEBMAN DAVID. Atonement commemorates the holiest day of the year in the Jewish faith, called Yom Kippur. On that day an individual repents for transgressions which may have occurred during the past year. Fasting and prayer are the activities which begin at sundown with the chanting of Kol Nidre and end twenty four hours later. I wrote the melodies for this piece on Yom Kippur, 1979. Part of the piece quotes the beginning strains of Hatikvah, the Israeli national anthem. It is adaptable to any solo instrument. Solo parts are included for C concert, Bb, Eb and bass clef instruments. Recorded on 'Classique”./ Répertoire / Quatuor à Cordes et Instrument Solo

Par DVORAK ANTONIN. Dvorák's 'String Quintet in G major” op. 77, had five movements when it was premiered on 18 March 1876. Its second movement was the 'Intermezzo” from his 'String Quartet in E minor” (1870). Later Dvorák removed this movement from the quintet, expanded it, and published it as a separate 'Notturno” for string orchestra op. 40. The 'Intermezzo” is included in its original version in the appendix of the score. This edition is based on the 'Complete Edition of the Works of Antonín Dvorák”, the principal source being the first edition of 1888, for which Dvorák subjected the work to revision. - Dvorák's famous quintet with double bass - New detailed foreword by Dvorák scholar David Beveridge (Eng/Cz/Ger) - Musical text based on the 'Complete Edition of the Works of Antonín Dvorák” (series IV, vol. 8)/ Répertoire / Quatuor à Cordes

Josef Suk played second violin in the Bohemian String Quartet. Since 1914 the ensemble was obliged to perform the Austrian national anthem at the opening of every concert.Suk decided to supplement this obligatory piece with a work inspired by the ancient sacred Bohemian 'St. Wenceslas? hymn. The hymn's message - a plea for the well-being of the Czech people, directed at their patron saint - was immediately understood by the audience.The Bohemian String Quartet performed this single-movement Meditation for the first time on 27 September 1914 - the premiere of the version for string orchestra followed on 22 November 1914, played by the Czech Philharmonic. That same year the piece was published by Fr. A. Urbánek together with arrangements for piano and organ.This first Urtext edition, prepared by the Suk scholar Zdenek Nouza, is published in two scorings, one for string quartet (BA 9583 - study score TP 583) and another for string orchestra (BA 9584).The orchestral version differs in some details and has an added part for double bass. - First Urtext edition / Quatuor A Cordes

Demanding salon music for string quartet (with double-bass ad libitum) is provided by Wolfgang Birtel in his 'Latin Dances' with four titles which can be played individually or as a little suite. The first dance is the chorinho 'Não me toques' by Zequinha de Abreu (1880-1935) who not only wrote 'Tico Tico' but also other rousing pieces of music. Ernesto Nazareth (1863-1934) is considered to be the 'inventor' of the Brazilian tango and waltz: He titled the waltz, which follows as second title, 'Ingenious'. These rather unknown titles are followed by two absolute worldwide hits: 'Bolada de Aficionado' by A.G. Villoldo and then the everlasting beguine 'Bésame Mucho' by the Mexican composer Consuelo Velázques (1916-2005). Whether individually or as a 'four-pack' - the fingers will be twitching and the toes will be tingling for this music carries away musicians and audience alike. / Quatuor A Cordes