List of quarter tone pieces

A selection of compositions using quarter tones:

A edit

  • Thomas Adès
    • Asyla calls for an upright piano tuned a quarter-tone flat.

B edit

C edit

  • Jacob Collier
    • In the Bleak Midwinter for 10 Vocalists (2016)[18]
  • Julián Carrillo
    • Capricho for piano in quarter-tones (1959)[19]
    • Capricho for solo viola in quarter-tones (1926)[19]
    • Casi-sonatas 1–6 for solo violin, viola or cello in quarter-tones (c.1960s)[19]
    • Concertino in quarter-, eighth- and sixteenth-tones for violin, cello and harp with orchestra (1926)[19]
    • Concerto for 1/4-tone and 1/8-tone cello and orchestra (1958)[19]
    • Concerto No. 1 for quarter-tone violin and orchestra (1963)[19]
    • Concerto No. 2 for quarter-tone violin and orchestra (1964)[19]
    • Mass for Pope John XXIII for male chorus in quarter-tones (1920s)[19]
    • Preludio a Colón for vocalizing soprano, octavina (modified bass guitar, in 8th tones), flute, 16th-tone harp, violin, and guitar (1922)[19]
    • Serenata for cello in quarter-tones with English horn, harp, and string quartet (1927)[19]
    • 70 estudios for solo violin in quarter-tones (c. 1927?) {also for solo viola, cello, or double-bass}[19]
    • Sonata for solo guitar in quarter-tones (c.1924)[19]
    • Sonata (Amanecer en Berlin 13) for solo harp in quarter-tones (1931)[19]
    • Sonata casi fantasia for violin, violoncello and guitar in quarter-, eighth- and sixteenth-tones (1925)[19]
    • String Quartet in quarter-tones (c.1924) {There are also 7 others with some using smaller intervals.}[19]
    • Suite for solo guitar in quarter-tones (1960)[19]
    • 3 estudios en forma de sonatina for solo violin in quarter-tones (1927)[19]
    • Symphony No. 1 (Colombia) for orchestra in quarter-tones (c.1924)[19]
    • Symphony No. 2 (Colombia) for orchestra in quarter-tones (1926)[19]
  • Aaron Copland
  • John Corigliano
    • Chiaroscuro for two pianos tuned a quarter tone apart (1997)[20]
  • Mildred Couper
    • Xanadu for two pianos tuned a quarter tone apart (ca. 1930)[14]
    • Dirge for two pianos tuned a quarter tone apart,[21] published in New Music quarterly (January 1937)[22]
    • Rumba for two pianos tuned a quarter tone apart (ca. 1937)[23]

D edit

  • John Diercks
    • Reminiscences, 1971 for two pianos, one tuned a quarter-tone lower.[24]

E edit

F edit

G edit

H edit

  • Sampo Haapamäki
    • Velinikka, concerto for quarter-tone accordion (2008)[33]
    • Conception, double concerto for quarter-tone guitar, quarter-tone accordion and orchestra (2012)
    • Quarter-Tone Piano Concerto (2017)[34]
  • Georg Friedrich Haas
    • 3 Hommages, for piano player on two pianos tuned a quarter tone apart[35]
      • "Hommage à Steve Reich" (1982)
      • "Hommage à György Ligeti" (1984)
      • "Hommage à Josef Matthias Hauer" (1982)
  • Alois Hába
    • Children's Play for unaccompanied youth chorus, Op.43 (1932)
    • Chor-Suite for unaccompanied chorus, Op. 13 (1922)
    • 5 Choruses for unaccompanied youth chorus, Op. 42 (1932)
    • 5 Mixed Choruses, Op. 44 (1932)
    • Detské nálady (Children's Moods), 8-song cycle for mid-ranged voice and quartertone guitar, Op.51 (1943)
    • Fantasy No. 1 for quartertone piano, Op. 17 (1923)
    • Fantasy No. 2 for quartertone piano, Op. 19 (1924)
    • Fantasy No. 3 for quartertone piano, Op. 20 (1924)
    • Fantasy No. 4 for quartertone piano, Op. 25 (1925)
    • Fantasy No. 5 for quartertone piano, Op. 26 (1925)
    • Fantasy No. 6 for quartertone piano, Op. 27 (1926)
    • Fantasy No. 7 for quartertone piano, Op. 28 (1926)
    • Fantasy No. 8 for quartertone piano, Op. 29 (1926)
    • Fantasy No. 9 for quartertone piano, Op. 30 (1926)
    • Fantasy No. 10 for quartertone piano, Op. 31 (1926)
    • Fantasy No. 11 for quartertone piano, Op. 89 (1959)
    • Fantasy for unaccompanied violin, Op. 9a (1921)[19]
    • Fantasy for unaccompanied violoncello, Op. 18 (1924)
    • Fantasy for violin and quartertone piano, Op. 21 (1925)[19]
    • Fantasy for viola and quartertone piano, Op. 32 (1926)
    • Fantasy for violoncello and quartertone piano, Op. 33 (1927)
    • (I) for unaccompanied men's chorus, Op. 36 (1928)
    • Matka (The Mother), quartertone opera in 10 scenes, Op. 35 (1927–29)[19]
    • Poesie zivota (Poetry of Life), 12-song cycle for soprano and quartertone guitar, Op. 53 (1943)
    • Pracující den (The working day) for unaccompanied male voices, Op. 45 (1932)
    • Solo for violin Op. 93 (1961–62)[19]
    • Sonata for quartertone piano, Op. 62 (1946–47)[19]
    • String Quartet No. 2 ("In quarter-tone system"), Op. 7 (1920)[19]
    • String Quartet 3 ("In quarter-tone system"), Op. 12 (1922)
    • String Quartet 4 ("In quarter-tone system"), Op. 14 (1922)
    • String Quartet 6 ("In quarter-tone system"), Op. 70 (1950)
    • String Quartet No. 12 ("In quarter-tone system"), Op. 90 (1959–60)[19]
    • String Quartet 14 ("In quarter-tone system"), Op. 94 (1963)
    • Suite No. 1 for quartertone piano, Op. 10 (1922, revised in 1932 as Op. 11a)
    • Suite No. 2 for quartertone piano, Op. 11 (1922, revised in 1932 as Op. 11b)
    • Suite No. 3 for quartertone piano, Op. 16 (1923)
    • Suite No. 4 for quartertone piano, Op. 22 (1924)
    • Suite No. 5 for quartertone piano, Op. 23 (1925)
    • Suite No. 6 for quartertone piano, Op. 88 (1957–59)[19]
    • Suite for clarinet and quartertone piano, Op. 24 (1925)[19]
    • 1st Suite for quartertone guitar, Op. 54 (1943)
    • 2nd Suite for quartertone guitar, Op. 63 (1947)
    • Suite for clarinet (unaccompanied), Op. 55 (1943)
    • Suite for quartertone trumpet and trombone, Op. 56 (1944)
    • Suite in quartertones for 4 trombones, Op. 72 (1950)[19]
  • Fromental Halévy
    • Prométhée enchaîné (1849)[36]
  • Jonathan Harvey
    • Valley of Aosta for chamber ensemble of 13 players and electronics (1988)[citation needed]
  • Lejaren Hiller
    • String Quartet No. 5 (1962).[14]
  • Alan Hovhaness
    • O Lord, Bless Thy Mountains, Op. 276, for two pianos tuned a quarter tone apart (1974)[37]

I edit

K edit

L edit

  • Michael A. Levine
    • Divination by Mirrors for Saw and Strings. Strings are divided into two groups of 13 tuned 1/4 step apart. Each group plays only in its own pitch "universe". The featured bowed saw freely moves from standard tuning to pitches a 1/4 step away. Premiered at Merkin Concert Hall, New York City, 1998 by the New York Virtuosi and Dale Stuckenbruck saw soloist.[41]
  • György Ligeti
    • Clocks and Clouds for 12-voiced women's choir and orchestra.[42]
    • Quartet No. 2 for strings.[43]
    • Ramifications for 12 solo strings (1968–69), divided into two groups tuned a quarter-tone apart.[44]
  • Arthur Lourié
    • Prelude for piano "with higher chromatism", Op.12 No.2 (1912).
  • Alain Louvier
    • Anneaux de Lumière (1983) for two pianos, one tuned a quarter-tone apart (1 player)

M edit

  • Drake Mabry [de; fr; nl]
    • Street Cries (11.10.83) for solo B♭ clarinet features extensive use of quarter tones in all three movements.[45]
  • Henry Mancini
  • Steve Mackey
    • Indigenous Instruments[48]
    • On All Fours[48]
  • Andrew March
    • Aeolian Rustling (2001) for alto flute (Boehm system) and harp, with Kingma System alto flute ossia.[49]
    • XXIX—in Perpetuum (2001) for solo Kingma System quarter-tone alto flute.[49]
    • Water Lilies (2001) for solo alto flute and harp, with Kingma System quarter-tone alto flute ossia.[50]
    • Memoriam (2002) for Kingma System quarter-tone alto flute, vibraphone, marimba, harp and strings.[51]
  • Rytis Mažulis
  • Olivier Messiaen
    • Deux monodies en quarts de ton (1938).[52]

N edit

O edit

  • Frank J. Oteri
    • Circles Mostly in Wood, a quarter-tone wind quintet in five movements (2002)[53]
    • Fair and Balanced, a quarter-tone saxophone quartet[54] in four short movements (2004)

P edit

R edit

  • Karel Reiner
    • Fantasy for quarter-tone piano (1935-36)
    • Five songs for voice with violin accompaniment in quarter-tones to texts by Karel Hynek Mácha (1936, performed at the 1938 ISCM Festival in Paris)
    • 3 Duos for 2 quarter-tone clarinets (1972)
    • Suite for quarter-tone piano (1935-36)
  • Milan Ristić
    • Duo for violin and violoncello, Op. 11 (1938)[citation needed]
    • Septet for clarinet, 2 trombones, string trio, and doublebass, Op. 9 (1938)[citation needed]
    • Suite for unaccompanied violin, Op. 6 (1938)[citation needed]
    • Suite for ten strings, Op. 10 (1938)[citation needed]
    • Suite for four trombones, Op. 8 (1938, scheduled for performance during the 1939 ISCM Festival in Warsaw but the performance could not take place)[citation needed]

S edit

T edit

  • Tōru Takemitsu
  • James Tenney
    • Bridge for two pianos tuned a quarter-tone apart (1984)
  • Jukka Tiensuu
    • Kymmari for Decacorde (2016)
    • Anomal Dances Concerto for quarter-tone accordion and orchestra (2015)
    • Kuuhiomo a proludi in quarter tones for any ensemble of melody instruments (2015)
    • Arsenic and Old Lace for micro-tonally tuned harpsichord, string quartet (1990)
    • Narcissus for oboe and tape (1979)
  • Tui St. George Tucker
    • Amoroso for solo clarinet[citation needed]
    • Indian Summer for 2 baritones with 2 flutes, clarinet, bassoon, trombone, viola, and percussion[citation needed]
    • Little Pieces for quarter-tone piano[60]
    • My Melancholy Baby Fantasy for one player performing on two pianos at a right angle tuned a quarter-tone apart
    • Quartertone Carol for recorder trio
    • Quartertone Recorder Duets[60]
    • Quartertone Lullubies 1–3 for recorder trio
    • Romanza for solo recorder.[61]
    • Sarabande: Dance for Miriam Cooper, for microtonal harpsichord (1986)[62]
    • Sonata No. 1 for Solo Recorder ("The Bullfinch").[63]

W edit

  • Ivan Wyschnegradsky
    • Ainsi Parlait Zarathoustra, for four pianos two of which are tuned a quarter-tone sharp, Op. 17 (1929–1930, revised 1936)
    • 2 Chants sur Nietzsche, for baritone & 2 pianos in quarter tones, Op. 9 (1923)
    • Chant douloureux et étude, for violin and piano, Op. 6 (1918)[64]
    • Composition, for string quartet, Op. 43 (1960)
    • Cosmos, for 4 pianos in quarter tones, Op. 28 (1939–1940)[65]
    • Dialogue, for two pianos tuned a quarter-tone apart, eight hands, W.o.O. (1959)
    • Dithyrambe, for two pianos tuned a quarter-tone apart, Op. 12 (1923–1924)
    • Études sur les mouvements rotatoires, for two pianos tuned a quarter-tone apart, eight hands, Op. 45a.; for chamber orchestra, Op. 45c (1961)
    • Études sur les densités et les volumes, for two pianos tuned a quarter-tone apart, Op. 39b (1956)
    • Fragment symphonique No. 1, for four pianos two of which are tuned a quarter-tone sharp, Op. 23a; for orchestra, Op. 23c (1934, orch. vers. 1967)
    • Fragment symphonique No. 2, for four pianos two of which are tuned a quarter-tone sharp, timpani & percussions, Op. 24 (1937)
    • Fragment symphonique No. 3, for four pianos two of which are tuned a quarter-tone sharp & ad. lib. percussions, Op. 31 (1946)
    • Prélude et Fugue, Op. 21, for two pianos tuned a quarter-tone apart (1932)
    • Préludes dans tous les tons de l'échelle chromatique diatonisée à 13 sons, Op. 22, for two pianos tuned a quarter-tone apart (1934, revised 1960)
    • String Quartet No. 1, Op. 13 (1923–1924)
    • String Quartet No. 2, Op. 18 (1930–1931)
    • String Trio, Op. 53 (1979, unfinished, completed by Claude Ballif)
    • Variations sans thème et conclusion (five), for orchestra, Op. 33 (1951–52)[66]

Y edit

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ Saito 2008, p. 12.
  2. ^ Bach, "Concert Variations", JanBach.com.
  3. ^ Op de Coul 2012, "Uses quarter tones."
  4. ^ Clements 2008.
  5. ^ Couture & [2001].
  6. ^ Gagné 2012, p. 26.
  7. ^ Read 1990, p. 51.
  8. ^ Somfai 1996, p. 269; Bayley 2001, p. 168
  9. ^ Riley 1996, p. 275; Gagné 2012, p. 217
  10. ^ Gagné 2012, p. 217; Read 1990, p. 52
  11. ^ Johnston 2013; Michaels 2013
  12. ^ Skinner 2007, p. vii.
  13. ^ Read 1964, pp. 143–144.
  14. ^ a b c d e f Gagné 2012, p. 217.
  15. ^ Skinner 2007, p. 45.
  16. ^ Gagné 2012, p. 217; Read 1990, p. 58
  17. ^ Boulez 1986, pp. 129–131.
  18. ^ "Jacob Collier - in the Bleak Midwinter (Transcription)". YouTube.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac Read 1990, p. 2.
  20. ^ Gagné 2012, p. 217; Latham 2008, p. 11
  21. ^ Hinson 1983, p. 42.
  22. ^ Couper 1937.
  23. ^ Saffle 2000, p. 230.
  24. ^ Hinson 1983, pp. 52–53.
  25. ^ Keislar 1991, p. 185, "The nine harps are divided into three groups of three and tuned in sixth-tones, and the flute plays in quarter-steps"
  26. ^ Lanser and Monahan & [1999].
  27. ^ Oteri 2004, n. 12, "At some point, he outfitted his entire trumpet section with four-valved trumpets whose additional valve allowed them to play quarter-tones"
  28. ^ Bentoiu 2010, pp. 242–244.
  29. ^ Patterson 2009, pp. 38–39.
  30. ^ Anon. 2011.
  31. ^ Anon. 2001, p. 347; Anon. 2007, p. 106
  32. ^ Kurtz 2007, p. 232.
  33. ^ Lhermet 2016.
  34. ^ Fiilin 2020.
  35. ^ "Georg Friedrich Haas: 3 Hommages", UniversalEdition.com.
  36. ^ Macdonald 2001.
  37. ^ Gagné 2012, p. 217; Rosner and Wolverton 2001, [page needed]
  38. ^ Pappastavrou 1974; Sherwood 2002, pp. 123–126
  39. ^ Borchert 2015.
  40. ^ "The Legendary Microtonal Trio by Jeronimas Kačinskas – a challenge for performers". Music Information Centre Lithuania. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  41. ^ "Classical Music". The New Yorker. Vol. 74, no. 1–10. p. 23.
  42. ^ Steinitz 2003, p. 201. However, Duchesneau (2011, p. 135) states that Ramifications is Ligeti's "only work in quarter tones".
  43. ^ Steinitz 2003, p. 183. However, Duchesneau (2011, p. 135) states that Ramifications is Ligeti's "only work in quarter tones".
  44. ^ Clendinning 1993, p. 219; Duchesneau 2011, p. 135; Griffiths 2001; Roig-Francolí 1995, p. 244; Steinitz 2003, pp. 179–180; Toop 1999, pp. 134–135.
  45. ^ Richards 1992, [page needed].
  46. ^ Benedetti, Brown, Laramie, and Williams 2004, p. 134.
  47. ^ Brown 1994, pp. 177–178.
  48. ^ a b Froom 1994, p. 135.
  49. ^ a b Fether 2005, pp. 5, 36, and 51.
  50. ^ Fether 2005, p. 36.
  51. ^ Fether 2005, pp. 36, and 105.
  52. ^ Gagné 2012, p. 172.
  53. ^ Oteri n.d.
  54. ^ Anon. 2015.
  55. ^ He et al. 2006, [page needed].
  56. ^ Benson 2007, p. 228.
  57. ^ Brotbeck 2004, pp. 56–57.
  58. ^ Stockhausen 1964, p. 15, "Konträr-Klangräume: 6 Pauken, deren Stimmung ganztönig, und zur Klavierstimmung vierteltönig verschoben [Contrasting sound spaces: 6 timpani, the whole tone of which is tuned and quarter-tone shifted to the piano tuning]".
  59. ^ Everett, Walter (2009). The Foundations of Rock: From "Blue Suede Shoes" to "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes". Oxford University Press, USA. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-19-531023-8.
  60. ^ a b Hansen 2005, p. 285.
  61. ^ Tucker 1970, p. 7, "An arrow head pointing down over a note lowers it approximately a quarter step".
    Hettrick 1971, "Both pieces require performing techniques not encountered in traditional music for recorder. The most striking is the production of quarter-tones, notated as pitches in the chromatic scale to be lowered slightly. Charts provided by the composer give fingering for all half- and quarter-tones from the low f' up to a precarious c''''."
  62. ^ Tucker 1986, pp. 2–3, "'V' over a tone lowers it a quartertone … 'V' below a group of tones lowers that group a quartertone".
  63. ^ Hettrick 1971.
    Tucker 1970, p. 4, "An arrow head pointing down over a note lowers it approximately a quarter step".
  64. ^ Anon. 1997, p. 921.
  65. ^ Maxwell 1993, p. 103.
  66. ^ Read 1990, p. 76.
  67. ^ Ysaÿe 1924, pp. 24, 26, 39, and 43.

References edit

Further reading edit