OTHER STRING ENSEMBLES

String Trio:

String Trio (1981) – Duration: 5’00”.  Not currently available.

Live performance.  The trio was written for and performed over 100 times by the NC Symphony String Trio:  Paul Gorski, violin, Hugh Partridge, viola, and Michael Stoughton, cello.

 

Other String Groups:

December Flurries (5/27/14) for 4-part Violas – 3’10”.  This light, cheerful one-movement work is a good first piece for a viola ensemble.  MIDI recording.

 

Time by the River (12/27/13) for cellos in four parts – 5’20”.  This piece was written following a December visit to the Cummer Art Museum in Jacksonville, Florida. Behind the museum there are a series of gardens along the banks of the St. Johns River. On sunny days, even in December, it is a pleasant spot to enjoy the afternoon. This piece evokes memories of that visit.

Live performance.  The Boathouse Cello Choir premiered Time by the River at the Carling Ballroom, 31 W Adams St., Jacksonville, Florida, on April 5, 2014

The Boathouse Cello Choir

 

 

 

Back on Track (1992) for violin and viola – 15’20”.  Not currently available.

Live performance.  Margaret and Hugh Partridge premiered Back on Track for the re-opening of the Page-Walker Hotel in Cary, NC, on April 5, 1992.

Partridge Margaret (2)

 

 

 

Margaret Partridge, violin

 

String Sextet:

String Sextet: A Day in the Park (4/10/13) for 2 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos – 11’30”.  The piece is in three movements. The first is light and jazzy. It might suggest a holiday picnic in a beautiful open area where children are at play and the world is fresh and new.  The second movement has a much darker quality. It is full of chromatic uncertainty and foreboding. Storm clouds threaten the celebration. The last movement is brighter, but the brightness is the result of too much to drink. This is the braggart claiming his right to revel and carouse.  MIDI recording.

 

String Quintet:

Oodles of Doodles (1/6/2013) for string quintet – 4’49”.  As the title might imply, Oodles of Doodles is intended to be light entertainment. The piece follows a roughly ternary form, with the middle section at a slower rhythmic pace. The opening and closing sections contain fast-paced, joyful material in a simple harmonic language, sometimes enhanced by jazzy syncopations.

I encourage performers to have fun with this piece, even treating it theatrically, if desired.  Above all, the audience needs to feel that all classical music is not deadly serious.  MIDI recording.