Graham Waterhouse Graham Waterhouse (born 2 November 1962) 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 ...

, cellist and composer especially of

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 numb ...

, has written a number of works for

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

, three major works in several movements, several smaller works and compositions for a solo instrument (piccolo, oboe, bassoon, piano) and string quartet.

Overview

As a cellist and composer, Waterhouse focuses on chamber music and has composed works for strings from solo cello to string sextet. Several works were written for string quartet, some using it juxtaposed to a solo instrument. ;Works for string quartet: * String Quartet in G (1975) * '' Hungarian Polyphony'' (1986) * String Quartet (2002) * ''Opus J'' (2005) * '' Chinese Whispers'', premiered in

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

2010 * ''

Prophetiae Sibyllarum ''Prophetiae Sibyllarum'' ("Sibylline Prophecies" or "Sibylline Oracles") are a series of twelve motets by the Franco-Flemish composer Orlande de Lassus. The works are known for their extremely chromatic idiom. History This cycle of motets is ...

'', premiered in Munich in 2012 * ''Stone Circle'' (2013) * '' Alcatraz'', premiered in Berg in 2014 * '' Crystallogenesis'', premiered in Berg in 2016 ;Works for solo instrument and string quartet: *

Piccolo Quintet Piccolo Quintet is short for the Quintet op. 26 of Graham Waterhouse, composed in 1989 for piccolo and string quartet and published by Zimmermann in 2002 as Quintet for piccolo, 2 violins, viola and violoncello. History In 1989 the composer Gr ...

(1989) * ''Intermezzo'', for oboe and string quartet, premiered in

Idstein Idstein () is a town of about 25,000 inhabitants in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. Because of its well preserved historical Altstadt (Old Town) it is part of the ''Deutsche Fachwerkstraße'' ...

in 2000 * Bassoon Quintet, premiered in Munich in 2003, revised 2011 * ''

Rhapsodie Macabre ''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 ...

'' for piano and string quartet, premiered in Munich in 2011 * ''Trilogy'' for piano and string quartet, premiered in 2013 Four of the works were performed in a concert at the

Gasteig Gasteig is a cultural center in Munich, opened in 1985, which hosts the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. The Richard Strauss Conservatory, the Volkshochschule, and the municipal library are all located in the Gasteig. Most of the events of the Fi ...

on 4 November 2012, celebrating the composer's 50th birthday, played by him with members of the

Münchner Philharmoniker The Munich Philharmonic (german: Münchner Philharmoniker, links=no) is a German symphony orchestra located in the city of Munich. It is one of Munich's four principal orchestras, along with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Rad ...

: ''Hungarian Polyphony'', Bassoon Quintet, Piccolo Quintet and ''Rhapsodie Macabre''.

Works

Hungarian Polyphony

''Hungarian Polyphony'', Op. 25, is a work in one movement, begun in 1984 as a trio for two violins and cello, revised in 1986 for string quartet. The Hungarian elements are Gypsy scales and Hungarian rhythms.

Sergiu Celibidache Sergiu Celibidache (; 14 August 1996) was a Romanian conductor, composer, musical theorist, and teacher. Educated in his native Romania, and later in Paris and Berlin, Celibidache's career in music spanned over five decades, including tenures as ...

suggested more revisions and arranged that it was to be performed at the 1988 Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival by members of the festival orchestra. The work was published by Hofmeister in Leipzig in 1996. It takes about 7 minutes to perform.

Chinese Whispers

'' Chinese Whispers'' in three movements was composed in 2010, combining elements from the music of China with composition techniques of Western classical music. The work was awarded the "BCMS Composition Prize" of the Birmingham Chamber Music Society in 2011.

Prophetiae Sibyllarum

''Prophetiae Sibyllarum'' (The Prophecies of the

Sibyls The sibyls (, singular ) were prophetesses or oracles in Ancient Greece. The sibyls prophesied at holy sites. A sibyl at Delphi has been dated to as early as the eleventh century BC by PausaniasPausanias 10.12.1 when he described local traditio ...

) is a string quartet in four movements, first performed at the

in Munich on 22 April 2012. The title is taken from a cycle of

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Margar ...

s by Orlande de Lassus. The first motet of the cycle of the same name appears as the third movement and is the basis for the music. # Moderato e risoluto # Scherzo e Trio – Presto con vehemenza – meno mosso # Motet (Lassus) – Adagio # Vivace

Alcatraz

''Alcatraz'' is a string quartet, inspired by Alcatraz Island. It was first performed on 11 November 2014 at Schloss Kempfenhausen in Berg, in a program of contemporary string quartets played by the Pelaar Quartet with the composer as the cellist. It was published by Klangmueller Musikverlag. # The Rock - Adagio - Moderato e risoluto # Solitary - Scherzo, Agitato ma non troppo allegro # Sioux - Andante lamentoso # Testimony - Allegremente, precipitando

Crystallogenesis

''Crystallogenesis'' is in two movements, a slow and a fast one. It was inspired by the proliferation of crystals. It was first performed on 1 July 2016 at Schloss Kempfenhausen in Berg, played by the Pelaar Quartet with the composer as the cellist.

Alchymic Quartet

Alchymic Quartet ''Alchymic Quartet'' is a String quartets (Waterhouse), string quartet by Graham Waterhouse composed in 2022, inspired by chemical experiments of his teacher Andrew Szydlo at Highgate School. It was premiered in Gilching and Munich, in celebra ...

'' is a string quartet in four movements composed in 2022. It was inspired by chemical experiments that the composer remembered from being a student at

Highgate School Highgate School, formally Sir Roger Cholmeley's School at Highgate, is an English co-educational, fee-charging, independent day school, founded in 1565 in Highgate, London, England. It educates over 1,400 pupils in three sections – Highgate ...

with teacher

Andrew Szydlo Andrew Zbigniew Szydlo ( ; born 1949) is a British chemist and chemistry teacher, best known for his talks and lectures on chemistry. Biography Szydlo was born in London, England to Polish parents, and attended Latymer Upper School, and then ...

. It was first performed at concerts celebrating the composer's 60th birthday in November 2022, with Szydlo present. In one concert he conducted experiments at the same time. The music was played by the Philharmonisches Quartett München.

References

External links

Graham Waterhouse
website
Works List
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waterhouse, Graham Chamber music by Graham Waterhouse Contemporary classical compositions Compositions for string quartet Lists of string quartets by composer 1996 compositions 2010 compositions 2012 compositions 2014 compositions