Works by Henry Cowell, Roy Harris, and Arthur Shepherd
NB: All recordings on this album were reissued on compact disc as part of New World Records #80453, The Emerson String Quartet Plays 50 Years of American Music 1919-1969
This LP features the renowned Emerson Quartet in three American chamber works, repertoire with which they are not normally associated but which they play superlatively well. The dense, rhythmically complex string writing of the Cowell, quartet contrasts with the lush harmonies and lyrical melodies of the Harris and Shepherd works.
After a rigorous training in the German tradition that dominated nineteenth-century America, Arthur Shepherd (1880-1958) encountered the French music that was gradually crossing the ocean and influencing American composers (see Charles Tomlinson Griffes, 80273-2). But in between he met and was influenced—and published—by a native musician, Arthur Farwell, who was vigorously searching out American musical roots. Shepherd's Americana was placed in a European musical framework.
Henry Cowell's (1897-1965) special American trait was experimentation— he was an explorer continually looking for new musical territories. His native inquisitiveness was greatly enhanced and directed by Charles Seeger, possessor of one of the most exciting musical minds of this century.
Roy Harris's (1898-1979) American qualities are the deepest and strongest of the three but the most difficult to define. They are found in the very marrow of the man and in the music itself—an earthy, elemental vigor and a broad, open spaciousness.
Chamber Works by Shepherd/Cowell/Harris
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Three Variations on a Theme (String Quartet No. 2): Variation I
Roy Harris
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Three Variations on a Theme (String Quartet No. 2): Variation II
Roy Harris
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Three Variations on a Theme (String Quartet No. 2): Variation III
Roy Harris
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Quartet Euphometric
Henry Cowell
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Triptych for High Voice and String Quartet: I. He It Is
Arthur Shepherd
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Triptych for High Voice and String Quartet: II. The Day Is No More
Arthur Shepherd
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Triptych for High Voice and String Quartet: III. Light, My Light
Arthur Shepherd
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