Quartet Miniature No. 1

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: howmusic 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. Whatresults 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 theSociety for the Promotion of New Music at the Barbican Hall London.Score (miniature). Duration c. 5mins.

Mainly famous as an opera composer Donizetti is also the most important Italian representative of the string quartet genre. If the first quartets can be regarded as experiments of the young composer with a strictly classical form the intermediate and later pieces are unmistakable expressions of a mature musical mind.The String Quartets Nos. 1-6 complete the two volumes already published (Nos. 7–12 13–18); for the first time the editions present a complete critically edited musical text.

Eulenberg's celebrated and highly authoritative miniature score is the definitive reference source for study performance preparation or simply for those with a love of the great orchestral works.