Three Pieces for String Quartet
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SKU: PE.PREUME08S
Composed by Chris Cree brown. String Quartets. Study score. Duration 00:12:00. Edition Peters #PREUME08S. Published by Edition Peters (PE.PREUME08S).ISBN 9790674522304.
Study Score
Three Pieces for String Quartet begins with the nervous energy of Exuberant Monomania, its repetitive runs containing quarter tone intervals. Layered upon one another, these runs sound reminiscent of swarming insects, generating a busy underlying hum that periodically builds in creeping crescendos or abrupt terminations. Microtonal augmentation of these runs intensifies the elastic, runaway feel of the movement, while quasi-melodic fragments are passed between instruments, crying out in fits and starts over the simmering microtonal accompaniment.
The fabric of Recalcitrant Truculence consists of pizzicato, glissandi, col legno bowing and arpeggiated sweeps, pieced together into gestures with varying amounts of focus and that control movement’s journey through tension and release. Eventually one of these playing techniques grows in frequency, dominating the movement until it winds to a close.
Mercurial Nostalgia revels in the harmonic strangeness that results from some of the string quartet’s instruments employing microtonal scordatura. Beginning with solo cello, the rest of the quartet is gradually introduced until we arrive at intriguing four-part harmony. All the while, the registral range of the quartet is pushing upward, concluding with fragile natural harmonics sitting at high altitude.