Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra (Schuller)

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The Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra is a composition for string quartet and orchestra by the American composer Gunther Schuller. The work was composed between 1987 and early 1988. Its world premiere was given on February 20, 1988, by the Pro Arte Quartet and the Madison Symphony Orchestra conducted by Schuller. The piece was a finalist for the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for Music. [1] [2]

String quartet musical ensemble of four string players

A string quartet is a musical ensemble consisting of four string players – two violin players, a viola player and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group. The string quartet is one of the most prominent chamber ensembles in classical music, with most major composers, from the mid 18th century onwards, writing string quartets.

Orchestra large instrumental ensemble

An orchestra is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which mixes instruments from different families, including bowed string instruments such as violin, viola, cello, and double bass, as well as brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments, each grouped in sections. Other instruments such as the piano and celesta may sometimes appear in a fifth keyboard section or may stand alone, as may the concert harp and, for performances of some modern compositions, electronic instruments.

Gunther Schuller American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, and jazz musician

Gunther Alexander Schuller was an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian and jazz musician.

Contents

Composition

Structure

The concerto has a duration of roughly 22 minutes and is cast in four movements:

A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession. A movement is a section, "a major structural unit perceived as the result of the coincidence of relatively large numbers of structural phenomena".

A unit of a larger work that may stand by itself as a complete composition. Such divisions are usually self-contained. Most often the sequence of movements is arranged fast-slow-fast or in some other order that provides contrast.

  1. Lento misterioso
  2. Scherzo – Vivace
  3. Quietly flowing
  4. Allegro molto

The third and fourth movements are played without interruption. [1]

Instrumentation

The work is scored for string quartet and a large orchestra consisting of three flutes (doubling piccolo and alto flute), three oboes, cor anglais, two clarinets, bass clarinet, three bassoons (doubling contrabassoon), four horns, four trumpets, three trombones, tuba, percussion, harp, piano, celesta, and strings. [1]

Western concert flute transverse woodwind instrument made of metal or wood

The Western concert flute is a transverse (side-blown) woodwind instrument made of metal or wood. It is the most common variant of the flute. A musician who plays the flute is called a flautist, flutist, flute player, or (rarely) fluter.

Piccolo small musical instrument of the flute family

The piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The modern piccolo has most of the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written. This gave rise to the name ottavino, which the instrument is called in the scores of Italian composers. It is also called flauto piccolo or flautino.

Alto flute type of flute

The alto flute is a type of Western concert flute, a musical instrument in the woodwind family. It is the next extension downward of the C flute after the flûte d'amour. It is characterized by its distinct, mellow tone in the lower portion of its range. It is a transposing instrument in G, and uses the same fingerings as the C flute.

Reception

Travis Rivers of The Spokesman-Review wrote, "Schuller is a master of orchestration and his concerto is filled with ingenious use of evocative sounds—twitterings, murmurings, and stormy outbursts—sounds that can be appreciated for the moods they produce. The work also succeeds in doing some things few composers have even tried to do and none succeeding so well as Schuller—namely, treating the string quartet as a group of soloists, allowing the four players to interact as a quartet and still keeping the group from merging into the orchestral string sections." [3]

<i>The Spokesman-Review</i> broadsheet newspaper in Spokane, Washington, United States

The Spokesman-Review is a daily broadsheet newspaper in the northwest United States, based in Spokane, Washington; it is the city's only daily publication. It has the third highest readership among daily newspapers in the state, with most of its readership base in Eastern Washington.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Schuller, Gunther (1988). "Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra". G. Schirmer Inc. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
  2. ↑ Suzuki, Dean (August 1, 2003). "View from the West: New Hope for the Pulitzer". NewMusicBox . Retrieved October 1, 2016.
  3. ↑ Rivers, Travis (August 13, 1991). "Festival at Sandpoint offers fresh musical opportunities". The Spokesman-Review . Retrieved October 1, 2016.


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