Presents
Howard Hanson
String Quartet in One Movement, Op.23
Howard Hanson (1896-1981) was born in Wahoo, Nebraska. He studied music locally and then in New York City at the Institute of Musical Art, which later became the Juilliard School of Music. He then continued his studies at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He pursued a career as a teacher and composer and his works were among the most frequently performed by an American composer. Winner of the Prix de Rome in Music, he spent three years in Italy. In 1924, he became director of the Eastman School of Music, a position he held for forty years, during which time he turned it into one of the finest music schools in the world.
Hanson's String Quartet in One Movement dates from his time in Italy and was completed in 1923. The duration of a full length string quartet, the work, though in one movement, is divided into several smaller sections. There are two dominant themes, which are related to each other. Each is presented in a different tempo marked Tempo I and Tempo II. The Quartet is completely tonal though not traditionally so. Full of emotion, tension and lyricism, it is riveting from start to finish.
This is a very fine work which American performing groups would do well to program and certainly to take with them on tours abroad as well as at home. It can also be recommended to experienced amateur quartet groups.
Parts: $24.95
