Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Edition Silvertrust Publishes Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's 'Five Fantasy Pieces for String Quartet, Op.5'

[Samuel Coleridge-Taylor]

The Afro-British composer and conductor Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) is profiled at AfriClassical.com. Edition Silvertrust announces a new edition of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's Five Fantasy Pieces for String Quartet, Op. 5:

EditionSilvertrust.com
“The Fantasy Pieces or Fantasiestücke, to use the German name first coined by Schumann, were composed in 1898, several years before the famous Cobbett Fantasy Competitions. The tradition of fantasy pieces was well-established by the time Coleridge-Taylor came to compose his. They would composer a set of character pieces, each of a different mood and type. The opening piece, aptly titled Prelude begins in a restless somewhat agitated fashion but it is immediately replaced by a calmer subject. The rest of the movement is taken with an interplay between the two. The Serenade which follows is quite lyrical with each phrase elided seamlessly in to the following one. Next comes a scherzo, Humoresque, which seems to have a vague Bohemian aura to it. A stately and elegant Minuet with its diffident trio section serves as the fourth piece. The themes of the exciting finale, Dance, are loosely related to those of the opening Prelude.

“We are pleased to reintroduce this highly effective work, which has long been out of print. A pleasure to play, it would make a welcome change on the concert stage and will certainly be found enjoyable by amateurs.

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