String quartets (Waterhouse)

String quartets
by Graham Waterhouse
Composer Graham Waterhouse, 2011
Period	contemporary

Prophetiae Sibyllarum
Beginning of the motet by De Lassus which appears as movement three
Based on	Motet by Orlande de Lassus
Performed	22 April 2012 (2012-04-22)
Movements	4
Scoring	string quartet

Graham Waterhouse, cellist and composer especially of chamber music, has written a number of works for string quartet, three major works in several movements, several smaller works and compositions for a solo instrument (piccolo, oboe, bassoon, piano) and string quartet.

As a cellist and composer, Waterhouse focuses on chamber music and has composed works for strings from solo cello to string sextet. Several works were written for string quartet, some using it juxtaposed to a solo instrument.

Four of the works were performed in a concert at the Gasteig on 4 November 2012, celebrating the composer's 50th birthday, played by him with members of the Münchner Philharmoniker: Hungarian Polyphony, Bassoon Quintet, Piccolo Quintet and Rhapsodie Macabre.

Hungarian Polyphony, Op. 25, is a work in one movement, begun in 1984 as a trio for two violins and cello, revised in 1986 for string quartet. The Hungarian elements are Gypsy scales and Hungarian rhythms. Sergiu Celibidache suggested more revisions and arranged that it was to be performed at the 1988 Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival by members of the festival orchestra. The work was published by Hofmeister in Leipzig in 1996. It takes about 7 minutes to perform.

Chinese Whispers in three movements was composed in 2010, combining elements from the music of China with composition techniques of Western classical music. The work was awarded the "BCMS Composition Prize" of the Birmingham Chamber Music Society in 2011.

Prophetiae Sibyllarum (The Prophecies of the Sibyls) is a string quartet in four movements, first performed at the Gasteig in Munich on 22 April 2012. The title is taken from a cycle of motets by Orlande de Lassus. The first motet of the cycle of the same name appears as the third movement and is the basis for the music.