- Erhard Grosskopf
12 Stücke für Streichquartett (String Quartet No. 4), Op. 51 (1998)
(for string quartet)- Henry Litolff’s Verlag GmbH & Co. KG (World)
Programme Note
Immediately after the composition of the single-movement String Quartet No. 3, 12 Pieces for String Quartet was written in 1998. With varying instrumentation, seven of the 12 pieces go through all possible combinations of two or three instruments within a string quartet – five are quartets:
1. Quartett
2. Duo for Viola and Violoncello
3. Trio for Violine1, Violine 2 and Viola
4. Quartett
5. Duo for Violine 2 and Violoncello
6. Quartett
7. Trio for Violine 1, Viola and Violoncello
8. Duo for Violine 1 and Violine 2
9. Quartett
10. Trio for Violine 1, Violine 2 and Violoncello
11. Duo for Violine 1 and Viola
12. Quartett
The twelve pieces are composed according to a complex logic: The starting point is 12 time processes that all use the same building blocks (proportions), varied by their different combinations. These variations appear in four groups and each group in turn appears in three intensities. So much for the rational rules of the compositional process. The interpretation allows the sound of the music to become real, and perception through listening is of great importance. Music enters our brain through sound, and it is there that each person forms the musical space in which he creates his personal experience of music.
Self-quotation: The construction of the music always arises from the study of the basic emotional idea, my idée fixe in the composition process. The resulting work of art is an independent expression that cannot be represented by explanatory reflections. Verbal expressions are limited to what can be said. Just as in the thought of body and spirit the body seems to be clearer, more tangible, more explorable and therefore more real, and yet the spirit moulds the body like water and wind mould the sand, so the spirit of a work of art can change us when it touches our soul.
Erhard Grosskopf
Scores
More Info
- Erhard Grosskopf (1934-2025)
- 23rd April 2025
- Edition Peters Group is sad to announce the death of the composer Erhard Grosskopf who passed away in Berlin on 17 April 2025. He was 91.