A Middle Quartet (“In Medias Res”) (1987)

Violin, Viola, Cello, and Piano – 17 mins.

Audio

Score (Free Download)

Program Note

The title of A Middle Quartet (“In Medias Res”) refers to a number of things: a kinship with the spirit of Beethoven’s Middle Quartets (energetic, dramatic, extroverted); a compositional style which draws freely from surrounding influences; the form of the piece (see below), and the composer’s somewhat optimistic surmise that, after 20 years of composing, he should be in his own “middle period.”

The formal concept of A Middle Quartet (1987) is derived from the narrative technique “In Medias Res” (literally, “in the middle of things,” that is, starting in the midst of the dramatic action). A Middle Quartet should give the listener a sense of beginning and ending “in the middle.” The work starts with an extended string of “fast music” sections, during which the ideas become progressively more sharply profiled. In the center (which is really the end/beginning of the middle) stands a simple but expressive jazz tune with a rock trio.