I (Andante leggiero)
II (Alla breve)
III (Con tutta la forza)
IV (Presto giocoso)
V (Semplice)
Much of the sound of my string quartet is determined by the unusual tunings of half of the instruments – the 2nd violin has all its strings tuned down a semitone, and the viola has all its strings tuned down a tone. This greatly expands the number of different pitches available to be played as open strings – unlike the conventional tuning of a quartet, this combination contains 16 unique strings. All of the piece’s five movements are in some sense explorations of the distinctive timbre of open strings.
I was immensely touched to have been asked by Regina Hepner to write a piece for a concert in memory of Leo Hepner.
Instrumentation:
2 violins, viola & cello
Duration:
12 mins
Commission:
Commissioned by the Hepner Foundation in memory of Leo Hepner
Performances:
2 Jun 2024
Jonathan Morton, Clio Gould, Oliver Wilson, Clare O’Connell
Behind the Mirror, Town Hall Berkhamsted, UK
24 Oct 2021
Sonoko Welde, Matteo Cimatti, Leonel Pedro Andrade & Margot Voisin
Tellenhaus Ernen, Switzerland
Swiss premiere
8 Feb 2020
Quatuor Diotima
Auditorium de Radio France, Paris, France
French premiere
29 May 2018
Arditti Quartet
Wigmore Hall, London, UK
World premiere