#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalQuartet Week 1
By Ralph Graves
April is the fourth month of the year. And so the Classics a Day team decided to make classical quartets this month’s theme. One could easily fill up a month of postings with nothing but great string quartets. But I decided to explore further.
A piano trio is made up of four musicians. So is a vocal quartet, a percussion quartet, a brass quartet, and so on. I decided to seek out some of the more unusual quartet compositions. And while I do include some string quartets, they’re not written by the usual suspects.
Here are my #Classicsaday selections for the first week of #ClassicalQuartet
04/01/20 Peter Schickle (1925 – ): Last Tango in Bayreuth
Schickle is best known for his alter ego, PDQ Bach. But even when he composes under his own name, there’s still a lot of humor in Schickle’s work. His favorite instrument is the bassoon. So what could be better than four of them?
04/02/20 Eugene Bozza (1905-1991): Trois pièces pour une musique de unit
French violinist and composer Bozza was best known for his chamber music. This three-movement work is for a woodwind quartet — flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon.
04/03/20 Steve Reich (1936 -): Drumming
This work is considered one of the first minimalist masterpieces. It’s for four players. But they’re not always playing four instruments.
