> On a completely different note: does anyone of you know of a good > source for writing quartets? I am writing a piece for cello solo > right now (my first one ever) and I find that unbelievably > difficult. I cannot imagine writing for quartet. The big problem > is that I do know the instruments well enough - I am playing the > piano and I used to play the trombone a bit but I have no > relationship with strings and so what I am writing lack finesse. > The only text on orchestration I have is Piston, which I think is > a good work, but for me his explanation on the string section is > much too short. Thank you and best, Will
The best way to learn to write idiomatically for string quartet is to study to the point of intimate familiarity the string quartets of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Debussy, Ravel, Schoenberg, Bartok, Shostakovich, etc. Next to actually performing them yourself, of course. Lee Actor Composer-in-Residence and Assistant Conductor, Palo Alto Philharmonic http://www.leeactor.com _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
