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23691348
Field of Stars
23691348
23691348
23691348
Details
String Quartet - Intermediate
SKU: PE.EP73792
Composed by Sally Beamish. Single Titles; Solo Small Ensembles; String Quartet. Score. Edition Peters #98-EP73792. Published by Edition Peters (PE.EP73792).ISBN 9790577025568.
This piece is about pilgrimage. When my husband's son returned from an extraordinary and transformative feat -- running the Camino de Santiago de Compostela -- he brought us the emblem of the pilgrimage -- a scallop shell. I noticed that this same shell is the logo for the East Neuk Festival -- referring to the pilgrimage made by many to St Andrews in Fife. The East Neuk Festival is host to a wealth of nationalities, who gather to make music together.
Compostela means Field of Stars -- the navigational tool used by pilgrims over the ages. The stars are represented by small bells -- E, H, C and B -- one for each cellist, taking its note from the first letter of the name of each quartet performing the premiere. (in German notation H=B, and B=Bb).
In the daily videos sent to us by Gabriel, there was often a village bell chiming, as if heralding his arrival or departure at each stage of the journey. I have used this idea to mark the journey of the work.
All the music in the piece relates in some way to journeys, and/or to the variety of nationalities contained within the four quartets who performed the premiere: the Elias, Pavel Haas, Castalian and Belcea. The themes characterise each quartet by giving them material that pertains to them in some way. The piece opens with a Scottish melody: East Neuk of Fife, played by Donald Grant -- the Scottish violinist in the Elias Quartet.
Next comes a fragment of Haas's 2nd string quartet, to represent Haas's tragic final journey to Auschwitz -- now a pilgrims' destination for many. Over this section, birds are heard -- each quartet adding their own 'bird calls'.
After the next 'bell refrain' is a Castalian Hymn, which is amongst the oldest known notated music. It is a Hymn to Delphi, describing arrival at the oracle and the Castalian Spring.
A South Korean folk song played in pizzicato follows, and then a Dutch ballad about a maiden's heroic journey to kill a predatory troubadour. The pace.
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