| Zeichenstaub | |
|---|---|
| String trio by Graham Waterhouse | |
 Graham Waterhouse, composer and cellist in the premiere, 2011 | |
| English | Symbol dust |
| Year | 2010 |
| Period | contemporary |
| Published | 2013: Frankfurt , Robert Lienau Musikverlag |
| Movements | 4 |
| Scoring |
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Zeichenstaub (Symbol dust) 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.
The work was commissioned by the Hepp family. Damian Hosp (pen name of Kaspar Hepp) wrote a poem which reflects a black and white photograph of a skier. The poem describes the tracks left in the snow and the powdery snow thrown up in the air, described as "Zeichenstaub". The composer writes: "The idea of clear lines set against blurred textures as suggested by this intriguing word was a starting point in the composition of the piece." [1] [2] The work for violin, viola and cello is in four movements, with the dedication to the family reflected in their initials:
Each movement is dedicated to "its own sound-world". The first movement in Doric mode, opens with rising fifths, set against syncopated open fifths. The second movement is in harmonics, pizzicato and glissandi in a dialogue. [3] The third movement reflects the painting technique of Pointillism in pizzicato. The final movement is a moto perpetuo , "the material continually transforms and re-invents itself with an urgency and rhythmic drive that finally leads the work to an energetic close". [1]
The premiere was played in Arnstadt on 18 September 2010, with the composer as the cellist. The UK premiere was performed and first recorded on 9 October 2012 at Highgate School by members of the Münchner Philharmoniker Clément Courtin and Konstantin Sellheim, with the composer, celebrating his 50th birthday. [4] [5] [6]
Zeichenstaub was published by Robert Lienau Musikverlag, Frankfurt, in 2013. [7] The trade journal ensemble reviewed the work as "Das neue Werk" (The new work). [8]
The String Quartet No. 15 in G major, D. 887, was the last quartet written by Franz Schubert in June 1826. It was posthumously published in 1851, as Op. 161. The work focuses on lyrical ideas and explores far-reaching major and minor modes, which was uncommon to this degree in his compositions. Schubert reinforced this with a range of dynamic contrast and use of texture and pizzicato. The structural form of the movements in this quartet are somewhat ambiguous due to Schubert's focus on lyricism rather than traditional harmonic structure.
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.
Gestural Variations, Op. 43, is a trio composition by Graham Waterhouse in 1997 originally for oboe, bassoon and piano. Later versions are scored for clarinet, cello and piano (1999) and flute, cello and piano (2009).
Jens Josef is a German composer of classical music, a flutist and academic teacher.
The Bassoon Quintet is a quintet by Graham Waterhouse, composed in 2003 for bassoon and string quartet.
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.
Bei Nacht, op. 50, is a piano trio, composed in 1999 by Graham Waterhouse, published by Hofmeister, Leipzig.
Chinese Whispers is a composition for string quartet in three movements by Graham Waterhouse. Premiered in 2010, it combines elements from the music of China with composition techniques of Western classical music. Similar to the children's game, phrases change as they pass from part to part. The work was awarded the "BCMS Composition Prize" of the Birmingham Chamber Music Society in 2011.
Three Pieces for Solo Cello op. 28, is a composition for cello in three movements by Graham Waterhouse, dedicated to cellist Siegfried Palm in 1992. The composer, a cellist himself, wrote it to "exploit the characteristics" of his instrument. In 1996, a revised version won a composition prize and was performed at the Hochschule für Musik München. The work was published by the Friedrich Hofmeister Musikverlag in 1996 and recorded on a Portrait CD of chamber music in 2001.
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.
The Cello Sonata, Op. 65, is a work by the English composer Benjamin Britten. It was premiered in July 1961 at the Aldeburgh Festival in Suffolk. The work is in five movements:
The Piano Trio in G major, L. 5, was written by an 18-year-old Claude Debussy in 1880 in Fiesole, Italy, where he resided at Nadezhda von Meck's. Most of the autograph of the work was thought to be lost until 1982, when it was discovered from the legacy of Maurice Dumesnil, a pupil of Debussy's. The first edition was published in 1986.
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 Cello Concerto, Op. 27, is a concerto for cello and orchestra by Graham Waterhouse, composed in 1990. It was first performed in 1995 in Toluca and Mexico City with the composer as the soloist, and published by Friedrich Hofmeister Musikverlag in Leipzig in 2000.
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.
Graham Waterhouse, cellist and composer especially of chamber music, has written a number of song cycles. As a cellist, he has used string instruments or a Pierrot ensemble instead of the typical piano to accompany a singer. In 2003 he composed a first cycle of songs based on late poems by Friedrich Hölderlin. In 2016, he set nursery rhymes, excerpts from James Joyce, and texts by Shakespeare. In 2017, he wrote settings of poems by Irish female writers, and in 2022 a cycle of Buddhist texts for mezzo-soprano, cello and piano.
The Piano Quartet No. 2 in G major, Op. 26 by Henrique Oswald was composed in the second half of 1898. It is scored for piano, violin, viola and cello. The approximate duration is 25–30 minutes.
Incantations, subtitled Concerto da camera, is a composition for piano and ensemble by Graham Waterhouse, composed in 2015 and first performed in Birmingham.
Praeludium (Prelude), Op. 32, is a piece for piano by Graham Waterhouse, composed in 1992 and published by Lienau in 2002. The virtuoso composition has been played in concert internationally, and was recorded.
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