View source for Skylla and Charybdis (Waterhouse)

{{Short description|Piano quartet by Graham Waterhouse}}
{{Infobox musical composition
| name        = ''Skylla and Charybdis''
| type        = [[Piano quartet]]
| image       = GW60, Skylla und Charibdis.jpg
| image_upright = 1.3
| caption     = The performers of the premiere tuning for the piece in a concert at the [[Allerheiligen-Hofkirche]] in Munich on 5 November 2022
| composer    = {{nowrap|[[Graham Waterhouse]]}}
| year        = {{Start date|2014}}
| period      = [[Contemporary classical music|contemporary]]
| based_on    = [[Between Scylla and Charybdis|Scylla and Charybdis]]
| movements   = 4 (without break)
| scoring     = [[piano]], [[violin]], [[viola]], [[cello]]
}}
'''''Skylla and Charybdis''''' is a 2014 composition for [[piano quartet]] by [[Graham Waterhouse]], played in four [[Movement (music)|movements]] without a break. The title refers to [[Between Scylla and Charybdis|Scylla and Charybdis]], two sea monsters from [[Greek mythology]]. In performances in German-speaking countries, it has also appeared in English surroundings as '''''Between Scylla and Charybdis'''''.<ref name="Highgate" />
'''''Skylla und Charybdis''''' is the title of an album of music for piano and strings by Waterhouse including this piece, released by Farao Classics in 2020.
== History ==
The work, composed in 2011, was premiered at the [[Gasteig]] in Munich on 2 November 2014, by pianist [[Katharina Sellheim]], violinist [[David Frühwirth]], violist [[Konstantin Sellheim]] and the composer as the cellist. It was used for the title of a concert at the same location on 11 March 2018, played by the same performers,<ref name="Hufner" /> and for a concert in Gilching in preparation of an album of the same name.
<ref name="Palmer" /> It was played in England in 2020, again providing the concert title, in 2020, combined with quartets by Beethoven and Dvořák, at the composer's former school, [[Highgate School]].<ref name="Highgate" /> The quartet was notably played, by the same performers as in the premiere, as part of GW60, a concert on 5 November 2022 at the [[Allerheiligen-Hofkirche]] in Munich to celebrate the composer's 60th birthday.<ref name="GW60" />{{rp|4–5}}<ref name="TKVM" />
== Music ==
The music is structured in four movements which are played without a break:<ref name="GW60" />{{rp|4}}
# Adagio lugubre
# Allegro demonico
# Adagio doloroso
# Vivace energico
According to the composer, the opening movement relates to the currents in the narrow strait of the sea. The second section pictures "threatening and aggressive characters". The third movement is based on overlapping melodies, mirroring each other as in tribal chant. The fourth section depicts a battle, musically, between the piano and the strings.<ref name="Landsberg" /><ref name="GW" />
A reviewer noted in ''Das Orchester'' that the four movements, alternating slow and fast, had contrasting elements such as tender explorations of harmonic context ("sanfte Erkundungen harmonischer Kontexte") and moments full of rhythmic energy ("Momente voller rhythmischer Energie"), and imaginative sonorities ("mit großer Klangfantasie").<ref name="Drees" />
== Album ==
''Skylla und Charybdis'' is the title of an album of some of the composer's works for piano and strings, including this piece. It was released in 2020 by Farao Classics. A reviewer quotes the composer explaining: {{quote|"Choosing between Scylla and Charybdis is a metaphor which means »opting for the lesser of two evils«. The composer of today steers a similarly precarious path, facing questions such as: embracing or renouncing tradition; use of tonal centres or atonality; adhering to pre-conceived musical forms or use of narrative forms; allowing one instrument to dominate, or integrating them. In my mind the vision of the perilous and deadly Scylla and Charybdis mirrors these and other dilemmas facing composers, where possible danger may lie in store for those siding too closely with one extreme or the other."<ref name="Duperron" />}}
=== Track listing ===
The album contains six compositions:<ref name="Farao" />
# ''[[Rhapsodie Macabre]]'', piano and string quartet
# ''[[Bei Nacht]]'', Op. 50, piano trio
# ''Trilogy'', piano quintet
# ''[[Bells of Beyond]]'', piano trio
# ''Kolomyjka'', from ''Polish Suite'', Op. 3, piano quartet
# ''Skylla und Charybdis'', piano quartet
The music, recorded in 2019 in [[Planegg]], was performed by [[Katharina Sellheim]] (piano), [[David Frühwirth]] and Namiko Fuse (violin), [[Konstantin Sellheim]] (viola) and the composer as the cellist, which included all performers of the world premiere of ''Skylla und Charydis''.<ref name="Farao" /> The CD was introduced by a livestream concert at the Munich Gasteig on 6 March 2021, played by the same musicians.<ref name="Hufner" /> The program, which had been designed for the Beethoven year 2020 but was postponed due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Germany|COVID-19 pandemic]], had ''Kolomyjka'', ''Skylla und Charybdis'', ''Bells of Beyond'' and ''Rhapsodie Macabre'' from the album, and additionally the German premiere of ''[[Variations for Cello Solo]]'', and the world premiere of ''11 Neue Bagatellen nach Op. 119'', arrangements of the [[Bagatelles, Op. 119 (Beethoven)|Eleven Bagatelles]] by Beethoven, originally for piano, for string quartet.<ref name="Hufner" />
== References ==
{{reflist
| refs =
<ref name="Drees">{{cite journal
| last = Drees
| first = Stefan
| url = https://dasorchester.de/artikel/skylla-und-charybdis-kammermusik/
| title = Graham Waterhouse / Skylla und Charybdis – Kammermusik
| journal = Das Orchester
| language = de
| date = May 2021
| page = 91
| access-date = 5 May 2021
}}</ref>
<ref name="Duperron">{{cite web
| last = Duperron
| first = Jean-Yves
| url = http://www.classicalmusicsentinel.com/KEEP/waterhouse.html
| title = Graham Waterhouse – Skylla und Charybdis – Chamber Music – 4025438081083 – Released: March 2021 – Farao Classics B108108
| website = classicalmusicsentinel.com
| date = February 2021
| access-date = 6 February 2020
}}</ref>
<ref name="Hufner">{{cite magazine
| last = Hufner
| first = Martin
| url = https://www.nmz.de/online/unuebersehbar-42-nmz-streaming-empfehlungen-vom-53-bis-zum-1132021
| title = Unübersehbar #42 – nmz-Streaming-Empfehlungen vom 5.3. bis zum 11.3.2021 / 6. März
| magazine = [[Neue Musikzeitung]]
| date = 4 March 2021
| language = de
| accessdate = 7 March 2021
}}</ref>
<ref name="Palmer">{{cite news
| last = Palmer
| first = Reinhard
| url = https://www.nmz.de/online/unuebersehbar-42-nmz-streaming-empfehlungen-vom-53-bis-zum-1132021
| title = Konzert in Gilching:Kein seichtes Fabulieren
| newspaper = [[Süddeutsche Zeitung]]
| date = 29 September 2019
| language = de
| accessdate = 13 February 2023
}}</ref>
https://www.sueddeutsche.de/muenchen/starnberg/konzert-in-gilching-kein-seichtes-fabulieren-1.4621075
<ref name="Farao">{{cite web
| url = https://www.farao-classics.de/include/album.php?id=128&language=en
| title = Skylla und Charybdis
| publisher = Farao Classics
| date = 2020
| access-date = 8 February 2021
}}</ref>
<ref name="GW">{{cite web
| url = https://www.arbc.de/Waterhouse/werke.htm#skylla
| title = Scylla and Charybdis
| publisher = Graham Waterhouse
| date = 2020
| accessdate = 30 Apr 2020
}}</ref>
<ref name="GW60">{{cite web
| url = https://www.arbc.de/Waterhouse/pdf/2022-11-05%20GW60.pdf
| title = GW60 – Festkonzert
| website = Graham Waterhouse
| date = 2022
| language = de
| pages = 4, 11
| access-date = 8 December 2022
}}</ref>
<ref name="Highgate">{{cite web
| url = https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/southwood-ln/dyne-house-auditorium-highgate-school/between-skylla-and-charybdis-the-munich-piano-quartet/e-vomkbe
| title = Between Skylla and Charybdis – The Munich Piano Quartet
| website = ticketsource.co.uk
| date = 27 February 2020
| access-date = 30 April 2020
}}</ref>
<ref name="Landsberg">{{cite web
| url = http://kammermusik-im-bibliothekssaal.de/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Programm_St_Cecilias_Day.pdf
| title = St Cecilia's Day / Henry Purcell, Benjamin Britten und Graham Waterhouse
| website = Kammermusik im Bibliothekssaal
| date = 22 November 2015
| language = de
| page = 4
| accessdate = 2 Nov 2020
}}</ref>
<ref name="TKVM">{{cite web
| url = https://www.tonkuenstler-muenchen.de/de/Pinnwand/Veranstaltungen.php
| title = Pinnwand – Veranstaltungen / Projekte /GW60
| publisher = Munich {{ill|Tonkünstlerverband|de}}
| date = November 2022
| language = de
| access-date = 16 December 2022
}}</ref>
}}
== External links ==
* {{YouTube|qStrfnxkEuc|Graham Waterhouse: Skylla und Charybdis (2021)}}
* [https://www.planethugill.com/2021/03/getting-to-know-him-properly-skylla-und.html Getting to know him properly: Skylla und Charybdis, a disc devoted to the chamber music of cellist and composer Graham Waterhouse ] planethugill.com 19 March 2021
* {{YouTube|dovIiJr6rF8|Graham Waterhouse "GW60" Festkonzert aus der Allerheiligen-Hofkirche, München, 5. Nov. 2022}}
{{Graham Waterhouse}}
{{authority control}}
{{italic title}}
[[Category:Chamber music by Graham Waterhouse]]
[[Category:Contemporary classical compositions]]
[[Category:2014 compositions]]