Carlo Martelli – Prelude and Fugue for String Sextet, Opus 10 – Score Digital Download

In 1992 the composer, Carlo Martelli, was asked to write a piece for the viola section of the National Youth Orchestra, to give them an opportunity to rehearse and perform something other than orchestral repertoire. The composer rearranged the work in 2003 for its present combination.

The Pavão Quartet recorded this work in August 2012 on the CD Carlo Martelli, released in October 2013 by Discadia Records, DISCA 002. Included on the same CD, and also published by Broadbent & Dunn, are Martelli’s String Quartet No. 1, String Quartet No. 2 and Terzetto for Two Violins and Viola.

Review: "Completed in March 2003, Prelude and Fugue for string sextet stems from the score for 18 violas written for the National Youth Orchestra ten years previously. The imposing Prelude consists of a series of dramatic opening flourishes followed by a more fluent and elegant idea. Closely related to this prefatory statement, the ensuring Fugue is in a quicker tempo and takes in a sharply defined marcato section and an icy tremolando episode. Near the end, material from the Prelude reappears and the score concludes with a final sweeping gesture." – Paul Conway for Discadia Records, 2013

Biography

Martelli, Carlo

Carlo Martelli was born on the 12th December 1935 in London to an Italian father and an English mother. By the age of eleven Carlo had developed a passion for the symphony orchestra. Just before his twelfth birthday he started taking regular violin lessons and very soon began writing elaborate orchestral scores achieving a mastery in this field by the age of sixteen, by which time he had obtained a County Scholarship to attend the Royal College of Music in London, studying composition and viola. By the time he was 21 he had written a string quartet and had already had a great deal of success with several large scale serious symphonic compositions, notably his Second Symphony, which had many performances and broadcasts by several major orchestras in the few years after its completion. In the 1960's he turned to film music to make a living, and also worked steadily as a freelance viola player. His arrangements for string quartet, trio and other combinations number well over 250 and are played by hundreds of groups all over the world.