String Music for Young Players
Opus 31 – 1955
String Music was composed in 1955 and was revised several times thereafter. In its original version, the work was for a trio of violin, viola and cello. It was first performed in Boston in 1956 by faculty members of Boston University and taped for broadcast on WBUR-FM. The first Cleveland performance was on February 23, 1959, in the Severance Hall chamber music hall by members of The Cleveland Orchestra.
In 1992, the composer added selective doublings for string bass to allow for string orchestra performances of the work. This version received its premiere by the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Edwin London, conductor, on May 4 of that year.
In the words of the composer, “The piece belongs to a certain time and style, the end of the ‘neo-classic’ era, not yet ‘baroque and roll.’”
View the full score
Listen to Klaus Roy’s “String Music for Young Players”