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The General Steam Suite

Cuarteto de cuerda

VORONKOV, Guerassim

Reg.: B.3853

25,00 €
P.V.P. (VAT included 4%) Add to cart

  • Ensemble: Quartets: .
  • Genres: Classical / contemporary: Chamber.
    Incidental music: Soundtracks.
    Modern music: Fusion.
  • Language of the comment: Spanish, Catalan, English
  • Product format: Partitura
  • Difficulty level: Advanced-superior
  • Period: 2nd half S. XX - XXI
  • Publishing house: Editorial Boileau
  • Collection: Siglo XXI
  • No. of pages: 40+48
  • Measure: 31,00 x 23,00 cm
  • Lenght: 13'30"
  • ISMN: 979-0-3503-3848-9
  • Available in digital: No
  • Available for rent: Yes

The General Steam Suite began its life as a soundtrack which I composed for a screening of the classic silent film The General with Buster Keaton, one of the most important comic actors of the 20th century. The Colombian quartet Q-arte came up with the idea of transforming the soundtrack into a piece for string quartet which would last around 15 minutes. The piece was first performed on 4th January 2014 at the Cartagena International Festival by the Q-arte Quartet.

In old cinemas, film screenings were accompanied by a pianist or a musical ensemble, and I really wanted to recreate this atmosphere at the time I composed the music. I wanted to preserve a sensation of improvisation and the simultaneous reaction of the music to the images, although almost all the music is written down.

The film, which is set during the American Civil War, includes a love story, among many other adventures. This is the reason why, to achieve a suitable atmosphere, I have used a romantic and naive musical language to give an old-fashioned patina which suits the feelings and emotions of the leading characters. The movements of The General Steam Suite correspond to the sequences of the film, but they are organised and developed according to purely musical criteria.

Prefaci / Preface / Prefacio 
The General - Steam Suite
I. At the train station
II. Steam train
III. Annabelle’s theme
IV. Johnie enlist 
V. Behind enemy lines 
VI. Battle 
Biografia / Biography / Biografía 

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