Harrison Birtwistle: Chamber Works

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[The Duet for Eight Strings] has been extended since its first performance in 2019 and now spans almost twenty minutes, during which everything and nothing happens. The piece is brightly coloured,... — BBC Music Magazine, April 2022, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 4th Feb 2022
Catalogue No: BIS2561
Label: BIS
Length: 64 minutes

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Birtwistle: Trio for violin, violoncello and piano

Work length15:40

Album only

$5.15

$7.00

The Nash Ensemble

Birtwistle: Duet for 8 Strings

Work length19:55

Album only

$5.15

$7.00

The Nash Ensemble

Birtwistle: Pulse Sampler

Work length10:12

$1.50

$3.85

$3.50

Version for Oboe & Percussion
The Nash Ensemble

Birtwistle: Oboe Quartet

Work length18:35

$4.00

$5.20

$7.00

The Nash Ensemble

I. Quaver = 144

Track length6:16

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

II. Crotchet = 72

Track length4:37

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

III. Quaver = 66

Track length1:55

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

IV. Quaver = 96

Track length5:47

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

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"Born in 1934, Sir Harrison Birtwistle is one of the leading European figures in contemporary music. He first made his mark in 1965 with the decet Tragoedia, a work whose ambience of something at once ancient and modern, with stark juxtapositions of strident violence and fragile lyricism, presented a sound and sensibility quite new in British music. The Nash Ensemble was formed around the same time and over the decades that have followed, a close relationship has developed between Birtwistle and the ensemble. Among the several commissions made by the ensemble are the closing two movements of the Oboe Quartet as well as the Duet for Eight Strings, described by the composer as ‘a string quartet for two players’. Composed in 2018, the Duet is the most recent work on the disc, which also includes the Trio for violin, cello and piano from 2011. The only work of an older date is Pulse Sampler from 1981, originally for oboe and claves, but here heard in a recent version for a more varied array of percussion."

Reviews

April 2022

[The Duet for Eight Strings] has been extended since its first performance in 2019 and now spans almost twenty minutes, during which everything and nothing happens. The piece is brightly coloured, yet the shading feels subtle to the point of insignificance. Patchwork sections are neatly joined and despite the varied textures the stitches are invisible.

Sep/Oct 2022

these are some of the most intense and incisive performances of new work I’ve heard in quite a while...They dig into this music, so that every note is an event, but there’s nothing precious about it. Everything comes together into a stunning whole.

March 2022

All the music here retains a freshness and focus belying the composer’s age; it’s a long way from a mere rehashing of familiar ways of doing things.

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