Two Songs by Augusta Holmès String Quartet - Digital Sheet Music

SKU: A0.1647356

Augusta Holmès (1847-1903), born in Paris to an Irish father and Scottish mother, identified as French and added the accent grave to her surname as an adult, to make the French pronunciation clear. Despite her brilliant piano playing, she was denied entrance to the Paris Conservatoire for being female. Instead she studied privately with eminent musicians, including composition with César Franck, who she considered her most important teacher.

Rebelling against a tradition that female composers should limit themselves to short piano pieces, songs, or at most chamber music, Holmès wrote multiple operas and choral works on texts she wrote herself, and powerful symphonic poems. She also produced over 100 songs, mostly to her own lyrics, including the two arranged here.

Her personal life was also unconventional. She never married, but had five children with the well-known French writer Catulle Mendès (1841-1909) during their seventeen-year relationship. Three of them were depicted by Pierre-Auguste Renoir in a major painting, The Daughters of Catulle Mendès. In it, one girl is seated at the piano and another holds a violin.

Hymne à Vénus (Hymn to Venus), the first of this pair, has a flowing melody that bears a resemblance to that of the famous Christmas song Minuit, chrétiens (known in English as O Holy Night), by Adolphe Adam. It seems unlikely that Holmès would deliberately refer to this beloved French sacred carol in a hymn addressed to the pagan love goddess, but given her disdain for convention we cannot be sure. The (very slow) metronome marking in the original 1894 edition that is the source of this arrangement appears to be a misprint. The arrangement has a more practical tempo mark.

A piece with the title Soir d’hiver (Winter Evening) might suggest quiet contemplation of a snowy scene as the light fades and the cold deepens. Surprise! What we get is a lively Spanish dance. The high spirits are interrupted by a darker middle section, with chromatic passages that are a reminder that Holmès, like her teacher Franck, was an admirer of Liszt and Wagner and was influenced by them.

CYPRESS PUBLISHING is pleased to be the imprint for arrangements for string ensemble by Stephen Levintow. He is a free lance professional violist and violinist specializing in chamber music, who began making string quartet and trio arrangements for wedding, party and corporate events, to expand the repertory or to improve on existing versions. Selections include unusual pieces by both familiar and lesser-known composers, plus standard classical and popular favorites.

The goal is to produce high-quality, musically satisfying arrangements faithful to the composer’s original material, yet sight-readable in most cases by working professionals or intermediate to advanced students. The full range of normal string technique is employed, while avoiding unnecessary technical complexity. Melodic material is distributed throughout the four voices where appropriate, to maintain listener and performer interest. All parts and scores are set in Sibelius© software format, with careful attention to legibility and page turns.