String Quartet no. 1
in four movements Completed: January, 2002 Duration: 20 minutes Premiered: March 6, 2002, by Ari Streisfeld and Christopher Otto, violins, Yea-vonne Chen, viola, and Alexander Van Dorpe, cello
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Winner of an Honorable Mention in the 2002 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer AwardsProgram Note
This String Quartet, my first significant composition in the genre, is made up of four separate movements. The first movement, while initially resembling a chant, eventually grows into a mix of fast, unsettled music interspersed among more lyrical, mournful gestures. The second movement, a kind of scherzo, begins in free time, eventually settling on fast, rhythmic, chaotic music which culminates in a “con tutta forza” climax, immediately falling to silence. The third movement starts with a muted drone, building very slowly to more lyrical, contrapuntal sections. This movement is permeated by a number of aborted climaxes, the lines never allowed to reach their full dramatic potential. Similarly, the fourth movement resembles perpetual motion, driving almost obsessively to a climax which never comes to fruition. The piece, composed from September of 2001 to January of 2002, is build on several abstract ideas, the most important of which being one of frustration and concern for current world affairs and modern society’s unfortunate nonchalance towards modern music.
Performances (1)
| March 6, 2002, 12:30 pm (premiere) | Ari Streisfeld, violin; Chris Otto, violin; Yea-vonne Chen, viola; Alexander Van Dorpe, cello Kilbourn Hall, Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY |