A. Dixon: The ‘lost' Scherzo
Expected to ship in 2-3 weeks.
Shipping Policy- Composer: Ailsa Dixon (1932-2017)
- Instrumentation: String Quartet (Violin I, Violin II, Viola, Cello)
- Work: The ‘lost' Scherzo (1955)
- Size: 8.3 x 11.6 inches
Description
The revival of Ailsa Dixon's music has been a story of rediscovery. Many previously unheard works were discovered in manuscript in her archive after she died in 2017 and premiered posthumously, but it was not until several years later that the manuscript of a work for string quartet believed to have been lost turned up in an attic. The ‘lost' Scherzo is her earliest surviving work, written in 1955 at Durham University, where it earned her the Kisch Prize.
This lively, mercurial piece features frequent changes of time signature, possibly hallmarks of her early interest in Bartók, whom she cited in later life as an inspiration for his ‘elasticity of musical motifs'. The work's free and playful counterpoint shows the beginning of her compositional style, with a tonality suggesting influences from 20th-century British composers. The work received its first performance 70 years after it was written, by the Villiers Quartet on their recording of Ailsa Dixon's chamber music, The Spirit of Love, released on the Resonus Classics label in 2025.
© Josie Dixon
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A. Dixon: The ‘lost' Scherzo
