Six Quartets, Op. 8b

Score Parties. Par BEETHOVEN LUDWIG VAN. When Beethoven wrote these three quartets he was 15 years old and a composition student of Christian Gottlob Neefe in Bonn. They reveal a strong Mozartian influence while the brilliant piano writing already gives a sense of the mature Beethoven. He may conceivably have written the works for the wealthy Mastiaux family in Bonn, as he gave piano lessons to one of the daughters and the other three siblings played violin, viola and violoncello. The sole source for the quartets is the autograph score which contains many overwritings that shed light on the works' original conception and possible alternative readings. Although Beethoven never published the pieces in his lifetime and is not known to have performed them, he reused their melodic and thematic material in later compositions. Beethoven preserved the autograph score to the end of his days ? perhaps an indication that the quartets meant a great deal to him. The first edition was published by Artaria in Vienna one year after his death, albeit with the pieces in a different order and with many errors in the musical text. Bärenreiter's scholarly performing edition of the Piano Quartets WoO 36 is edited by the Italian pianist Leonardo Miucci, a specialist in the performance practice of keyboard music from this period. The edition not only presents the correct readings, it also sheds light on the young Beethoven's expressive notation and provides a plausible explanation for the distinction he made between dots and strokes to indicate staccato./ Répertoire / Quatuor pour Piano, Violon, Alto et Violoncelle

Par POHJOLA SEPPO. According to Jouni Kaipainen, the fourth string quartet (2006) is one of key works of Seppo Pohjola (b. 1965) and holds a place as a landmark in Finnish quartet literature. Of the composer's five string quartets, it is the longest and has the widest thematic arcs of his quartets. Seppo Pohjola has gone through a variety of styles in his musical career. He began as a strict Modernist, progressed towards Expressionism and took on board Romantic influences before ending up in the early 2000s in (a reformed brand of) Modernism again. Osmo Tapio Räihälä describes the end result thus: “The ‘new' Pohjola often anchors his style in a frenetic pulse through which he builds musical processes.” Duration c. 33 minutes. Score (A4) and parts (B4)./ Répertoire / String Quartet

Blake Dreaming ‘Goodison Quartet No. 5’ was commissioned by Nicholas and Judith Goodison.First performance on 30th April 2010 at Wigmore Hall London by Roderick Williams (baritone) and the DoricQuartet. Composer's Note   The commission was for a work which “uses the voice as an extra instrument without a text.” In BlakeDreaming I have cheated a little setting a line from “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell” albeit incompletely:- The roaring of lions the howling of wolves the raging ofthe stormy sea... are portions of eternity too great for the eye of man. The first section sets the Blake down to “stormy sea” with voice alone and follows this by a “dreaming” upon andaround it for voice and quartet where the baritone has pure vocalise. The second section sets the rest of the sentence again followed by an extended “dreaming” with pure vocalise. The baritone line should be urgentand moody suggesting eventful and disturbing dreaming. I would suggest that he imagine a dramatic outline throughout – even to specific (but unsung!) words and emotions – to ensure as powerful and gripping a dialoguewith the quartet as possible.

Parts for Trombone Quartet - 'Preludio Scherzo e Variazioni per quattro tromboni' by Bo Holten. Score: WH32725

Par SUK JOSEF. First scholarly-critical edition The single-movement String Quartet #2 by Josef Suk (1874-1935) was written at the height of his compositional powers. Completed in Krecovice in May 1911, this demanding work, with its complex harmonies and motivic structure, seemed avant-garde for its day: the Berlin premiere of November 1912 was accompanied by protests from the audience. Now Zdenek Nouza has edited the first scholarly-critical edition of this piece. The principal source is the first edition in full score, published by Simrock in Berlin. But Nouza has also consulted the printed parts (containing additions of great interest to performers) as well as the engraver's copy used for the printed score (with autograph corrections from the composer) and additional sources such as sketches. - First Urtext edition - Foreword (Cz/Ger/Eng) and Critical Commentary (Eng) by the editor/ Répertoire / Conducteur de Poche