cindy mctee
ADAGIO
for string quartet
2003
11.5 minutes
Two possible configurations. Set of parts includes both.
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
CelloViolin 1
Violin 2
Cello 1
Cello 2
Adagio for string quartet |
beginning |  |
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Rondure Music Publishing
for information, perusal materials, sales, or rental, please contact
Bill Holab Music
www.billholabmusic.comBill Holab
bhm@att.net
377 Sterling Place No. 4
Brooklyn, NY 11238tel (718) 499.3946
fax (718) 228-8085
Adapted from my Agnus Dei for organ in the wake of events following the horror of September 11, 2001, the Adagio became the second movement of my Symphony No. 1: Ballet for Orchestra, and was subsequently transcribed for string quartet. Adagio for string quartet was premièred by the Adkins String Ensemble in Denton, TX on March 7, 2004.
The Adagio gradually exposes a hauntingly beautiful melody from Krzysztof Penderecki's Polish Requiem (Ab, G, F, C, Db, Eb, Db, C). A falling half-step and subsequent whole-step emphasize the interval of the minor third. With occasional references to Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings, the work's harmonic language reflects my interest in using both atonal and tonal materials within the same piece of music.
All night have the roses heard
The flute, violin, bassoon;
All night has the casement jessamine stirr'd
To the dancers dancing in tune;
Till a silence fell with the waking bird,
And a hush with the setting moon.
---- Alfred Lord Tennyson, Maud, and Other Poems
Dr. McTee, who teaches at the University of North Texas, has produced a number of impressive compositions, and her Adagio . . . performed Friday night, does nothing to spoil her record. In fact, it would make a decent substitute for Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings as a solemn commemorative piece. The work is a transcription of a movement of Dr. McTee's Symphony No. 1, which was premiered by the National Symphony. . . . although often highly chromatic [the Adagio] does not seem in the least abrasive. It's an impressive work.
Olin Chism
The Dallas Morning News
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There is much to engage the ear . . .
Tim Smith
The Baltimore Sun
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a throaty elegy . . .
Steve Smith
The Washington Post
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lush string writing . . .
Allan Kozinn
The New York Times