| Epitaphium | |
|---|---|
| String trio by Graham Waterhouse | |
 The composer in 2011 | |
| Full title | Epitaphium in Memoriam W.R.W. |
| Year | 2007 |
| Period | contemporary |
| Dedication | William Waterhouse |
| Performed | 19 July 2009: Gasteig Munich |
| Movements | 1 |
| Scoring | violin, viola, cello |
Epitaphium is a composition for string trio by Graham Waterhouse. In 2007, after the death of his father William Waterhouse, he composed Epitaphium in Memoriam W.R.W. as a tribute to his memory.
William Waterhouse died suddenly in Florence on 5 November 2007, age 76. His son composed Epitaphium as an Epitaph to be performed at a memorial service in London, "In Memoriam W.R.W.". Instead, the trio was premiered on 19 July 2009 in the Kleiner Konzertsaal of the Gasteig, performed by the players of the Münchner Philharmoniker Clément Courtin (violin) and Gunter Pretzel (viola), and the composer (cello). [1] The program included Wilhelm Killmayer's Trio (1984), Arnold Schoenberg's string trio and Mozart's Divertimento K. 563. [2]
Epitaphium was performed several times, including a concert on 14 March 2011 in Munich presenting mostly contemporary Bavarian composers, along with the composer's Bassoon Quintet and music of Franz Lachner, Jörg Duda, Bernd Redmann and Dieter Acker, with violist Konstantin Sellheim. [3]
Epitaphium was the penultimate work in the concert The Proud Bassoon , celebrating William Waterhouse on 16 April 2011 in Wigmore Hall. [4] It was the first performance of the work in the UK. [5] The players were the children of William Waterhouse, as had been planned originally for the Memorial Service: Celia Waterhouse, violinist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Lucy Waterhouse, viola, and the composer, cello. [6] On the program was also the composer's quartet for three bassoons and contrabassoon Bright Angel . [4]
The 76-bar work is marked Adagio ma con moto. The opening theme is reminiscent of plainsong. The harmony relies on the pure intervals – perfect fourths, perfect fifths and octaves, often together with open strings and natural harmonics. Cadenza-like episodes and pizzicato add colour. A motif quotes the "Requiescant in pace" from Britten's War Requiem , referring both to the words "may they rest in peace" as to the premiere of the work, which William Waterhouse had played as the bassoonist of the Melos Ensemble, conducted by the composer. An augmented version of the opening theme in the violin, accompanied by fifths on natural harmonics and bell-like pizzicato, ends the music. [7]
Peter Grahame Woolf summarised after the UK premiere: "Epitaphium for W.R.W. packs a memorable punch and intensity into 76 bars". [8]
William Waterhouse was an English bassoonist and musicologist. He played with notable orchestras, was a member of the Melos Ensemble, professor at the Royal Northern College of Music, author of the Yehudi Menuhin Music Guide "Bassoon", of The New Langwill Index, and contributor to the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.
Graham Waterhouse is an English composer and cellist who specializes in chamber music. He has composed a cello concerto, Three Pieces for Solo Cello and Variations for Cello Solo for his own instrument, and string quartets and compositions that juxtapose a quartet with a solo instrument, including Piccolo Quintet, Bassoon Quintet and the piano quintet Rhapsodie Macabre. He has set poetry for speaking voice and cello, such as Der Handschuh, and has written song cycles. His compositions reflect the individual capacity and character of players and instruments, from the piccolo to the contrabassoon.
Piccolo Quintet is short for the Quintet op. 26 of Graham Waterhouse, composed in 1989 for piccolo and string quartet and published by Zimmermann in 2002 as Quintet for piccolo, 2 violins, viola and violoncello.
Rudi Spring is a German composer of classical music, pianist and academic. He is known for vocal compositions on texts by poets and his own, and for chamber music such as his three Chamber Symphonies.
The Bassoon Quintet is a quintet by Graham Waterhouse, composed in 2003 for bassoon and string quartet.
Lyndon Jeffrey Frank Watts is an Australian bassoonist. He is principal bassoonist of the Münchner Philharmoniker and an academic teacher.
Bernd Redmann is a German composer and musicologist.
Bright Angel is a composition for three bassoons and contrabassoon by Graham Waterhouse. It was composed in 2008 for the annual conference of the International Double Reed Society (IDRS).
Julie Price is an English bassoonist. She is principal bassoonist of the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
Rhapsodie Macabre is a composition for piano and string quartet in one movement by Graham Waterhouse, written in 2011 as a homage to Franz Liszt. It was first performed at a Liszt festival of the Gasteig, Munich, with the composer playing the cello part.
Zeichenstaub is a composition for string trio in four movements by Graham Waterhouse, written in 2010. It was first performed in Arnstadt, Germany, on 18 September 2010, with the composer playing the cello part.
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 and string quartet.
The String Sextet, Op. 1, is a string sextet in four movements by Graham Waterhouse. While the composer began the work as one movement in 1979, he completed it in four movements in 2013. The completed version was first performed at the Gasteig in Munich on 9 February 2014.
The Viola Sonata by Graham Waterhouse, entitled Sonata ebraica, was written in 2012 and 2013, and premiered in Munich in 2013. It was recorded in 2015 by Hana Gubenko and Timon Altwegg who commissioned and premiered it.
Phoenix Arising is a composition for bassoon and piano by Graham Waterhouse, who wrote it in 2008 in memory of his father, the bassoonist and musicologist William Waterhouse. It premiered in London in 2009, and was published by Accolade the same year.
Katharina Sellheim is a German classical pianist, with a focus on chamber music and lied accompaniment. She has appeared in recitals internationally, collaborating with members of the Münchner Philharmoniker, and has been a lecturer at the Musikhochschule Hannover.
Konstantin Sellheim is a German classical violist, who has appeared internationally with a focus on chamber music. He is a violist of the Münchner Philharmoniker, and lecturer of viola at the Universität der Künste Berlin.
Skylla and Charybdis is a 2014 composition for piano quartet by Graham Waterhouse, played in four movements without a break. The title refers to Scylla and Charybdis, two sea monsters from Greek mythology. In performances in German-speaking countries, it has also appeared in English surroundings as Between Scylla and Charybdis.
Elisabeth Waterhouse is an English pianist and music pedagogue. She founded the National Chamber Music Course, a summer school for young string players, in 1974, and has managed it since. She is the widow of the bassoonist and musicologist William Waterhouse.
Alchymic Quartet is a string quartet by Graham Waterhouse composed in 2022, inspired by chemical experiments of his teacher Andrew Szydlo at Highgate School. It was premiered in Gilching and Munich, in celebration of the composer's 60th birthday, with Szydlo attending and performing.
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