Work Information
| Commissioned by the Primrose Piano Quartet with funding from the Scottish Arts Council, Mr and Mrs J A Pye's Charitable Settlement, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, and the Hope-Scott Trust. |
| Publisher |
Chester Music Ltd |
Category |
Works for 2-6 Players |
| Year Composed |
2008 |
Duration |
20 Minutes |
| Orchestration |
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Availability |
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| Discography |
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| Full Score(s): |
CH73271 |
Full Score(s): |
Not available |
| Set(s) of Parts: |
CH73271-01 |
Set(s) of Parts: |
Not available |
Programme Note
The Piano Quartet was written in December 2007 for the Primrose Quartet, and is dedicated to Tam McPhail, in memory of his wife, Gunnie Moberg.
Gunnie was Swedish, but settled with Tam and their four sons in Orkney, from which base she became internationally known as an artist and photographer, as well as being a close friend, and an inspiration in my own work.
In this Quartet I have attempted to embrace as many of Gunnie’s character traits and influences as I could, including her very Scandinavian rigour, her Scottish humour, and even her love of the Faroe Islands. It is plainsong based, with an eightfold magic square.
1. Entrance and Jig
2. Slow Air
3. Føroya Kvædi (Lullabye from Faroe)
4. Rebus Runarum
5. Hortus Conclusus
6. Tantum Ergo Sacramentum
The first three movements are played without a break, as are the last two.
(c) Peter Maxwell Davies
Reviews
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Through brief, interlinked character pieces, instruments creep, chew or scud through knotty remnants of some secret theme. One section is rigourously solemn, another erupts with rhetorical gestures. A Faroe Island tune is hinted at but the puzzle's key proves to be, as so often with Davies, plainsong with the melody cradled in tonality's arms before the piece fades into sadness and a question mark.
Old tricks, then; but the feelings generated stay fresh. When tonal harmony arrives the effect is overwhelming, in a perplexing world we've finally reached home comforts, if only briefly.
Geoff Brown, The Times
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