Summersongs (String Quartet No. 4) (2009)

String Quartet – 16 mins.

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Score (Free Download)

Program Note

Sum­mer­songs (String Quar­tet #4) could be described as three tunes in search of a string quar­tet. The tunes present con­trast­ing char­ac­ters. The first one, which dom­i­nates the open­ing of the piece after emerg­ing from a tor­ren­tial tan­gle of ener­getic scale pat­terns, is strong and broad, a bold rising-fourth begin­ning (think “All the Things You Are”) fol­lowed by dri­ving syn­co­pated phrases and shift­ing har­monies. The sec­ond tune, which defines the mid­dle of the piece, has a dis­tinct Latin fla­vor. Easy-going at first, its syn­co­pa­tions become more insis­tent, ignit­ing a firestorm of activ­ity. The final tune is as slight and refresh­ing as a sum­mer breeze. Heard over a gen­tle drone, its only devel­op­ment is by reduc­tion, invit­ing the lis­tener to fill in the miss­ing notes.