String Quartet No. 6: ...like the stars in the firmament

Year Composed:	2023
Instrumentation:	2 violins, viola, cello
Duration	16 minutes

I.	The Triumph
II.	Till the Sun is in the Sky

Program Notes

My Sixth Quartet was composed on the heels of several highly programmatic works - including my Fifth Quartet (The Train to Improbable Places.) In this particular instance, I felt compelled to produce something that was more abstract and formal in conception, though certainly not without meaning. I challenged myself to compose a piece of music that could be experienced and understood on a largely emotional level, beyond the comfort of any concrete associations.

The first movement, entitled "The Triumph," offers something akin to the skeleton of a sonata, complete with a fiery, dance-like first theme and a more lyrical second subject (itself a transformation of the first.) But the structure of the sonata is beset by external forces that threaten to dismantle its foundation - whether in the form of creeping dissonances and microtonal sighs that clash with the movement’s otherwise robust tonality, or the emergence of a heroic, Baroque fugue in the development that steers us into another world. The title is meant to suggest a narrative of 'overcoming' that is prevalent in much of the historical repertoire. But what is being overcome, and what the price of this 'triumph' is, I have left for the listener to interpret.

After my initial conversation with the members of the Tesla Quartet prior to the creation of the quartet, I decided to name the piece after a quotation by Nikola Tesla: "Though free to think and act, we are held together, like the stars in the firmament, with ties inseparable." For me, this profound observation offers a vision of harmony that is both transcendental and (all too often) heartrendingly out of reach.

The sentiment expressed within this quote forms the spiritual basis of the second movement, which has a subtitle ("Till the Sun is in the Sky") that references a verse from the nursery rhyme, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." The famous repeated notes and opening leap of the "Twinkle" lullaby forms a substantial thread throughout, appearing first as a lyrical foil to the Mahlerian chorale that opens the movement, before transforming into something darker as the movement unfolds. Composed during one of the most difficult periods of my life, the music is meant to offer solace and catharsis for those experiencing hardship - while also reflecting somberly on the gap between our reality and our aspirations.

I am grateful to the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto for making this commission possible, and to the Tesla Quartet for championing this piece so beautifully.

Commissions and Awards

• Commissioned by the Women's Musical Club of Toronto for the Tesla Quartet.

Performances

• November 16, 2023 - Tesla Quartet. Walter Hall, Edward Johnson Building, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON.