String quartets (Waterhouse)

String quartets
by Graham Waterhouse

Composer Graham Waterhouse, 2011
Period contemporary

Graham Waterhouse, cellist and composer especially of chamber music, has written a number of works for string quartet, three major works in several movements, several smaller works and compositions for a solo instrument (piccolo, oboe, bassoon, piano) and string quartet.

Overview

As a cellist and composer, Waterhouse focuses on chamber music and has composed works for strings from solo cello to string sextet. Several works were written for string quartet, some using it juxtaposed to a solo instrument.

Works for string quartet
Works for solo instrument and string quartet

Four of the works were performed in a concert at the Gasteig on 4 November 2012, celebrating the composer's 50th birthday, played by him with members of the Münchner Philharmoniker: Hungarian Polyphony, Bassoon Quintet, Piccolo Quintet and Rhapsodie Macabre.[1]

Works

Hungarian Polyphony

Hungarian Polyphony
Catalogue Op. 25
Performed 1988
Published 1996
Duration 7 minutes
Movements 1
Scoring string quartet

Hungarian Polyphony, Op. 25, is a work in one movement, begun in 1984 as a trio for two violins and cello, revised in 1986 for string quartet. The Hungarian elements are Gypsy scales and Hungarian rhythms. Sergiu Celibidache suggested more revisions and arranged that it was to be performed at the 1988 Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival by members of the festival orchestra. The work was published by Hofmeister in Leipzig in 1996. It takes about 7 minutes to perform.[2]

Chinese Whispers

Chinese Whispers in three movements was composed in 2010,[3] combining elements from the music of China with composition techniques of Western classical music. The work was awarded the "BCMS Composition Prize" of the Birmingham Chamber Music Society in 2011.[4]

Prophetiae Sibyllarum

Prophetiae Sibyllarum
Based on Motet by Orlande de Lassus
Performed 22 April 2012
Movements 4
Scoring string quartet

Prophetiae Sibyllarum (The Prophecies of the Sibyls) is a string quartet in four movements, first performed at the Gasteig in Munich on 22 April 2012.[5] The title is taken from a cycle of motets by Orlande de Lassus which appears as the third movement.

  1. Moderato e risoluto
  2. Scherzo e Trio - Presto con vehemenza - meno mosso
  3. Motet (Lassus) - Adagio
  4. Vivace

Alcatraz

Alcatraz
Performed 11 November 2014
Movements 4
Scoring string quartet

Alcatraz is a string quartet, inspired by Alcatraz Island. It was first performed on 11 November 2014 at Schloss Kempfenhausen in Berg, in a program of contemporary string quartets played by the Pelaar Quartet with the composer as the cellist.[6][7] It was published by Klangmueller Musikverlag.[8]

  1. The Rock - Adagio - Moderato e risoluto
  2. Solitary - Scherzo, Agitato ma non troppo allegro
  3. Sioux - Andante lamentoso
  4. Testimony - Allegremente, precipitando

References

  1. ↑ "Quintette – Graham Waterhouse zum 50sten" (in German). Gasteig. 2012. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  2. ↑ "Hungarian Polyphony, op. 25". Friedrich Hofmeister Musikverlag. 1996. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  3. ↑ "Konzertante Musik für Flöte und Streicher" (in German). Gasteig. 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  4. ↑ "Conservatoire Tutors Ensemble". Birmingham Chamber Music Society. 18 February 2012. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  5. ↑ "Kammermusik und Film mit Graham Waterhouse" (in German). Gasteig. 2011. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
  6. ↑ "Pelaar Quartett / Neue Musik der Region" (in German). kunstraeume-am-see.de. 11 November 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  7. ↑ Silkenstedt, Eveline (3 February 2014). "Experiment geglückt: Neuausgabe Streichquartett im bosco" (in German). Kulturwelle 5. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  8. ↑ Palmer, Reinhard (17 December 2014). "Tuchfühlung bewirkt Wunder – Neue Musik im Münchner Umland, eine Bestandsaufnahme" (in German). Neu Musik Zeitung. Retrieved 17 February 2015.

External links