World premiere: Sept. 27, 2025, The Village Trip Festival, St. John’s in the Village, The Bergamot Quartet
“String Quartet #4 seeks to explore, over three movements, the rich sonic tapestry of this cherished genre. The first movement begins with a bustling texture, full of arpeggiation and ever-changing triadic harmonies. These give way to an insistent pedal tone, over which extended melody lines repeatedly rise. After a climax, the opening ideas return. The second movement is contemplative; its first theme elegiac with dense harmonic accompaniment, its second more ruminative and meandering. An imitative motif then emerges and is sustained in solemn counterpoint; it builds gradually, only to halt suddenly. The opening themes then resume, with brief allusions to the work’s middle before the music slowly drifts away. The rambunctious finale is propulsive and driving, with several dance-like episodes interrupting midway to lighten the texture and introduce unpredictability. A tonally simplified version of the first idea brings the work to a close.” – LK