E14CBB60-A6FF-4EA2-B393-4BC46675E116
| ID | E14CBB60-A6FF-4EA2-B393-4BC46675E116 |
|---|---|
| Titlecode | X504071 |
| Title Name | From the Fifth Book |
| Marketing Copy | Commissioned by the Brentano String Quartet for their Fragments Project, in celebration of their 20th Anniversary Season. The work reflects on the first movement of an unfinished quartet by Shostakovich. |
| Instrumentation | String Quartet |
| Commission | Commissioned by the Brentano String Quartet for their Fragments Project, in celebration of their 20th Anniversary Season. |
| Dedication | (not set) |
| Program Notes | COMMISSIONED BY THE BRENTANO STRING QUARTET AND THE FOLLOWING CO-COMMISSIONERS: CARAMOOR CENTER FOR THE ARTS, KATONAH, NEW YORK; CARNEGIE HALL, NEW YORK, NEW YORK; CHAMBER MUSIC NORTHWEST, PORTLAND, OREGON; CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, WITH SUPPORT FROM RUTH RATTNER AND ANN AND NORMAN KATZ; ONSTAGE AT CONNECTICUT COLLEGE, NEW LONDON, CONNECTICUT; DA CAMERA OF HOUSTON, TEXAS; FONTANA CHAMBER ARTS, KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN; HOPKINS CENTER, DARTMOUTH COLLEGE, HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE; KRANNERT CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, URBANA; LUTHER COLLEGE, DECORAH, IOWA; ROCKPORT MUSIC, ROCKPORT, MASSACHUSETTS; JUDITH AND DAVID FALK FOR SALT BAY CHAMBERFEST, DAMARISCOTTA, MAINE; SAN FRANCISCO PERFORMANCES, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA; AND SPIVEY HALL AT CLAYTON STATE UNIVERSITY, MORROW, GEORGIA. From the Fifth Book was commissioned by the Brentano String Quartet for their Fragments Project, in celebration of their 20th Anniversary Season. The commissioned composers were asked to write a movement for quartet reflecting upon a fragmentary work by some of the most celebrated quartet composers including Mozart, Schubert and Schoenberg. I selected what appears to be a completed first movement to an unfinished quartet by Shostakovich conceived between his 8th and 9th quartets. One of the aspects of the Shostakovich quartets I most admire is that despite their abstract character, with nearly all their movements bearing nothing more than very plain tempo markings, the music almost always communicates a sense of disquiet and emotional preoccupation that far transcends the relative straightforwardness of the thematic content. Further, Shostakovich’s structures, while equally plainspoken and rooted in the traditions of the string quartet, have a stream-of-consciousness character that I have chosen to follow in my piece. It is a curious challenge to be asked to write a fragment in response to a fragment. My title, From the Fifth Book, is intended as a suggestion that this piece may, at some point, become the first movement of a complete string quartet entitled The Fifth Book (by which I mean my fifth book of madrigals). Or, it may remain, as Shostakovich’s piece, a promise of something that never came to be. |
| Title Brand | 2 |
| Year Composed | 2011 |
| Copyright Number | (not set) |
| Copyright Year | (not set) |
| Duration | 6 |
| Ensemble Size | (not set) |
| Date Created | 2011-04-04 20:32:12.000000 |
| Date Updated | 2025-09-30 20:32:12 |
| Inhouse Note | Brentano exclusive 1 yr fm prem. July 9, 2011. |
| Bsc Code | (not set) |
| Text Author | (not set) |
| Premier Performance Memo | From the Fifth Book, premiered by the Brentano Quartet at Chamber Music Northwest. |
| Recording Credits | (not set) |
| Review | (not set) |
| Awards | (not set) |
| Title Category | 10 |
| Title Movements | (not set) |
| Title Grade | (not set) |
| Set Series ID | (not set) |
| Title Instrument Category Text | String Duo & Ensemble |
| Title Sub Category Text | (not set) |
| Title Sub Category | 76 |
| Title Instrument Header | 63 |
| Title Grade Text | (not set) |
| Clean Url | from-the-fifth-book-x504071 |