String Quartet No. 12 ... The Seasons (2010) full score
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SKU: A0.869257
Composed by Thomas Oboe Lee. 20th Century,Baroque,Classical,Contemporary,Romantic Period. Score and parts. With Summer: Cloudburst! Double rainbow … Trio 3). 48 pages. Thomas Oboe Lee #32567. Published by Thomas Oboe Lee (A0.869257).Program note:
As indicated by the title, this is my twelfth string quartet. My very first work, Aperture (1974), was a string quartet. In between I wrote four (nos. 2 – 5) for the Kronos Quartet, one (no. 6) for the Manhattan String Quartet, one (no. 7) for the Lydian String Quartet, one (no. 8) for the Artaria String Quartet, two (nos. 9 - 10) for the Hawthorne String Quartet, and one (no. 11) for the Formosa Quartet.
The number twelve immediately brought to mind the months of the year. But I thought a twelve-movement string quartet might be a bit excessive, and difficult to achieve in a coherent narrative arc. Most classical string quartets by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven are in four movements. So why not the seasons, a movement for each: spring, summer, autumn, and winter.
I am a huge fan of "The Creation" by Franz Joseph Haydn. Confession: I am a huge fan of anything by maestro Haydn. For inspiration and guidance, I went to Haydn’s other oratorio "The Seasons." Armed with a Dover publication of the full score and a recording of the complete work by Sir Thomas Beecham on EMI Classics, I got down to work over the summer of 2010.
String Quartet No. 12 … The Seasons, after Franz Joseph Haydn is in four movements, played without pause between movements.
1) Intro: Heavy snow … Spring: Crocuses blooming!!!
2) Summer: Cloudburst! Double rainbow … Trio
3) Autumn: La Caccia … Danza Rusticana … Trio
4) Intro: Heavy snow again … Winter: O Magnum Mysterium … Hail storm!
The work begins with four descending chords, depicting the falling of snow. But it’s Spring and crocuses are seen peeping through the snow …
Summer begins with cloudbursts, thunder, lightning and torrential rain. A double rainbow appears after the storm. The sun emerges from the clouds in the Trio section. It is a lovely day after all; but then the clouds return …
La Caccia: men go hunting in the Autumn. Well, the men in Haydn’s days at least. Peasant ladies dance as they harvest in the fields. A hawk appears, soaring overhead in the Trio as the sun sets in an orange-red sky ...
In Winter snow falls again; but it’s the season to celebrate the Nativity. Violin and viola chant "O magnum mysterium" … O Magnum Mysterium O great mystery Et admirabile sacramentum and wonderful sacrament Ut animalia viderent Dominum natum that animals should see the new-born Lord Jacentem in praesepio! lying in a manger! Beata Virgo, cujus viscera Blessed is the Virgin whose womb Meruerunt portare was worthy to bear Dominum Christum. Christ the Lord. Alleluia. Alleluia. A hailstorm wreaks havoc.
Fine.
Audio link. Copy and paste the URL link into your browser.
https://thomasoboelee.bandcamp.com/album/string-quartet-no-12-the-seasons-2010
Video link: https://youtu.be/8seBbMtds84
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