String Quartet No. 2

Description

Violin 1, Violin, Viola, Violoncello — Perhaps it was because I was going to write for the Emerson Quartet, not knowing which of the two fine violinists would be playing “second.”xa0 Perhaps it was because of the eloquent plea of the violist that I write things that would explore his upper register.xa0 Or perhaps it was my longstanding preference for mezzo-soprano over bass roles for the cello.xa0 For some or all of these reasons I awoke one day with a strong image of a string quartet totally unlike the soprano, alto, tenor, bass choir-like “layer cake” of violin I on violin II on viola on cello.xa0 My image was more like a galaxy: with four free-flying figures bound together by a gravitational pull — a quartet of four individuals drawn to merge even as they soar apart.xa0 So it was with this fantasy that I began my String Quartet No. 2.The resulting work of about 25 minutes in duration is in four contrasting but interrelated movements.xa0 The idea of transformation is ever present, sometimes on the surface with clearly perceptible variations and always informing the deeper structure of the piece.xa0 I take special delight in allowing a musical idea to evolve in new and unexpected ways.xa0 I also consider each work of mine a kind of spiritual journey that parallels the evolution of the piece.For me, the highest art in chamber music is not just in achieving an equitable distribution of equally rich material in all of the parts, but in the composer and ensemble’s ability to create the “line” of a work — from the first note to the last — in a composite way, revealing the whole to be greater than the sum of its parts.My String Quartet No. 2 was written with great admiration and affection for the Emerson Quartet (Eugene Drucker, Lawrence Dutton, David Finckel, and Philip Setzer).xa0 It is dedicated to my dear Aunt, Marie Hope Davis.This work was commissioned of the Emerson String Quartet by The Carnegie Hall Corporation.xa0 The world premiere was given at Carnegie Hall on December 2, 1998.