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String Quartet No. 3 (Piston)
String Quartet No. 3 by Walter Piston is a chamber-music work composed in 1947. History Piston's third string quartet was commissioned by Harvard University and first performed by the Walden String Quartet on May 1, 1947. It is dedicated to Diran Alexanian. Analysis The quartet is in three movements: #Allegro #Lento #Allegro Both of the outer movements are in sonata-allegro form, and are in F minor. The central Lento movement is a calm theme and variations in C minor. However, the first movement actually begins in A major/minor, only gradually settling into F minor at the end, and the variation movement spends a lot of its time in the parallel major (the dominant of F minor). However, Piston's characteristic flexibility of tonality and thickly chromatic harmony makes it simplest to omit key signatures. Discography * 1984. ''Walter Piston: String Quartet No. 3; String Quartet No. 4''. Portland String Quartet. Sounds of New England LP recording. Northeastern Records NR 214. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walter Piston
Walter Hamor Piston, Jr. (January 20, 1894 – November 12, 1976), was an American composer of classical music, music theorist, and professor of music at Harvard University. Life Piston was born in Rockland, Maine at 15 Ocean Street to Walter Hamor Piston, a bookkeeper, and Leona Stover. He was the second of four children. Although his family was mainly of English origin, his paternal grandfather was a sailor named Antonio Pistone, who changed his name to Anthony Piston when he came to Maine from Genoa, Italy. In 1905 the composer's father, Walter Piston Sr, moved with his family to Boston, Massachusetts. Walter Jr first trained as an engineer at the Mechanical Arts High School in Boston, but was artistically inclined. After graduating in 1912, he enrolled in the Massachusetts Normal Art School, where he completed a four-year program in fine art in 1916. During the 1910s, Piston made a living playing piano and violin in dance bands and later playing violin in orchestras led by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
C Minor
C minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature consists of three flats. Its relative major is E major and its parallel major is C major. The C natural minor scale is: : Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary. The C harmonic minor and melodic minor scales are: : : Notable compositions * Charles-Valentin Alkan ** Prelude Op. 31, No. 16 (Assez lentement) ** Symphony for Solo Piano, 1st movement: Allegro ** Trois grandes études, Op. 76, No. 3 "Mouvement semblable et perpetuel" (Rondo-Toccata) for the hands reunited * Johannes Sebastian Bach **Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 **Lute Suite in C minor, BWV 997 ** Cello Suite No. 5, BWV 1011 **The Musical Offering, BWV 1079 ** Partita No. 2, BWV 826 *Ludwig van Beethoven (See Beethoven and C minor) ** Piano Sonata No. 5 ** Piano Sonata No. 8 (''Pathétique'') ** Piano Concer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
String Quartets By Walter Piston
String or strings may refer to: * String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian animated short * ''Strings'' (2004 film), a film directed by Anders Rønnow Klarlund * ''Strings'' (2011 film), an American dramatic thriller film * ''Strings'' (2012 film), a British film by Rob Savage * ''Bravetown'' (2015 film), an American drama film originally titled ''Strings'' * ''The String'' (2009), a French film Music Instruments * String (music), the flexible element that produces vibrations and sound in string instruments * String instrument, a musical instrument that produces sound through vibrating strings ** List of string instruments * String piano, a pianistic extended technique in which sound is produced by direct manipulation of the strings, rather than striking the piano's keys Types of groups * String band, musical ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Howard Pollack
Howard Pollack (born March 17, 1952) is a prominent American pianist and musicologist, known for his biographies of American composers. Biography Pollack was born in Brooklyn and studied piano with Jennie Glickman while attending James Madison High School. He continued his piano studies with John Kollen and Eugene Bossart at the University of Michigan, where he received his Bachelor of Music in 1973; and with Adele Marcus at the Aspen Music Festival in 1970. He received a Master of Arts degree (1977) and Ph.D. (1981) in musicology from Cornell University, where he wrote his thesis, "Walter Piston and His Music", under the supervision of William Austin. He also studied composition privately with Samuel Adler in Rochester. After serving on the faculties of the Rochester Institute of Technology, Cornell University, and Empire State College, Pollack joined the faculty of the University of Houston in 1987, becoming John and Rebecca Moores Professor of Music in 2005. Pollack's books ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harlem Quartet
Harlem Quartet is a string quartet that was originally composed of first-place laureates of the Sphinx Competition for Black and Latino string players. They were formed in 2006. The members are first violinist Ilmar Gavilán, second violinist Melissa White, violist Jaime Amador, and cellist Felix Umansky. The Quartet won Best Instrumental Composition at the 2013 Grammy Awards for Mozart Goes Dancing. Career 2006–2008: Career Beginnings and Take the "A" Train The Harlem Quartet debuted at Carnegie Hall in the fall of 2006 at the Sphinx Organization's 10th anniversary gala concert, and played there again in late January 2007 as participants in Arts Presenters' prestigious and highly competitive Young Performers Career Advancement (YPCA) program as well as in October 2008 with the Cleveland Quartet's cellist Paul Katz at the annual Sphinx gala. They have returned to Carnegie on numerous other occasions. In 2006 it made its debut at Harlem's legendary Apollo Theatre with a well-re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
String Quartet No
String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * Strings (1991 film), ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian animated short * Strings (2004 film), ''Strings'' (2004 film), a film directed by Anders Rønnow Klarlund * Strings (2011 film), ''Strings'' (2011 film), an American dramatic thriller film * Strings (2012 film), ''Strings'' (2012 film), a British film by Rob Savage * ''Bravetown'' (2015 film), an American drama film originally titled ''Strings'' * ''The String'' (2009), a French film Music Instruments * String (music), the flexible element that produces vibrations and sound in string instruments * String instrument, a musical instrument that produces sound through vibrating strings ** List of string instruments * String piano, a pianistic extended technique in which sound is produced by direct manipulation of the strings, r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Key Signature
In Western musical notation, a key signature is a set of sharp (), flat (), or rarely, natural () symbols placed on the staff at the beginning of a section of music. The initial key signature in a piece is placed immediately after the clef at the beginning of the first line. If the piece contains a section in a different key, the new key signature is placed at the beginning of that section. In a key signature, a sharp or flat symbol on a line or space of the staff indicates that the note represented by that line or space is to be played a semitone higher (sharp) or lower (flat) than it would otherwise be played. This applies through the end of the piece or until another key signature is indicated. Each symbol applies to all notes in the same pitch class—for example, a flat on the third line of the treble staff (as in the diagram) indicates that all notes appearing as Bs are played as B-flats. This convention was not universal until the late Baroque and early Classical peri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chromaticism
Chromaticism is a compositional technique interspersing the primary diatonic scale, diatonic pitch (music), pitches and chord (music), chords with other pitches of the chromatic scale. In simple terms, within each octave, diatonic music uses only seven different notes, rather than the twelve available on a standard piano keyboard. Music is chromatic when it uses more than just these seven notes. Chromaticism is in contrast or addition to tonality or diatonic and chromatic, diatonicism and modality (music), modality (the major scale, major and minor scale, minor, or "white key", scales). Chromatic elements are considered, "elaborations of or substitutions for diatonic scale members".Matthew Brown; Schenker, "The Diatonic and the Chromatic in Schenker's "Theory of Harmonic Relations", ''Journal of Music Theory'', Vol. 30, No. 1 (Spring 1986), pp. 1–33, citation on p. 1. Development of chromaticism Chromaticism began to develop in the late Renaissance music, Renaissance p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parallel Major
In music theory, a major scale and a minor scale that have the same tonic note are called parallel keys and are said to be in a parallel relationship. Forte, Allen (1979). ''Tonal Harmony'', p.9. 3rd edition. Holt, Rinehart, and Wilson. . "When a major and minor scale both begin with the same note ... they are called ''parallel''. Thus we say that the parallel major key of C minor is C major, the parallel minor of C major is C minor." The parallel minor or tonic minor of a particular major key is the minor key based on the same tonic; similarly the parallel major has the same tonic as the minor key. For example, G major and G minor have different modes but both have the same tonic, G; so G minor is said to be the parallel minor of G major. In contrast, a major scale and a minor scale that have the same key signature (and therefore different tonics) are called relative keys. A major scale can be transformed to its parallel minor by lowering the third, sixth, and seventh sc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A-flat Major
A-flat major (or the key of A-flat) is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has four flats. The A-flat major scale is: : Its relative minor is F minor. Its parallel minor, A-flat minor, is usually written instead as the enharmonic key of G-sharp minor, since A-flat minor contains seven flats and G-sharp minor only contains five sharps, making A-flat minor rarely usable. Its enharmonic, G-sharp major, with eight sharps, including the F, has a similar problem, and so A-flat major is often used as the parallel major for G-sharp minor. (The same enharmonic situation also occurs with the keys of D-flat major and C-sharp minor.) Compositions in A-flat major Beethoven chose A-flat major as the key of the slow movement for most of his C minor works, a practice which Anton Bruckner imitated in his first two C minor symphonies and also Antonín Dvořák in his only C minor symphony. The second movement of Haydn's 43rd sym ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theme And Variations
In music, variation is a formal technique where material is repeated in an altered form. The changes may involve melody, rhythm, harmony, counterpoint, timbre, orchestration or any combination of these. Variation techniques Mozart's Twelve Variations on "Ah vous dirai-je, Maman" (1785), known in the English-speaking world as "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" exemplifies a number of common variation techniques. Here are the first eight bars of the theme: Melodic variation Mozart's first variation decorates and elaborates the plain melodic line: Rhythmic variation The fifth variation breaks up the steady pulse and creates syncopated off-beats: Harmonic variation The seventh variation introduces powerful new chords, which replace the simple harmonies originally implied by the theme with a prolongational series of descending fifths: Minor mode In the elaborate eighth variation, Mozart changes from the major to the parallel minor mode, while combining three techniques: counte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chamber Music
Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers, with one performer to a part (in contrast to orchestral music, in which each string part is played by a number of performers). However, by convention, it usually does not include solo instrument performances. Because of its intimate nature, chamber music has been described as "the music of friends". For more than 100 years, chamber music was played primarily by amateur musicians in their homes, and even today, when chamber music performance has migrated from the home to the concert hall, many musicians, amateur and professional, still play chamber music for their own pleasure. Playing chamber music requires special skills, both musical and social, that differ from the skills required for playing solo or symphonic works. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
