Satz für Streichquartett op.1 (1992)

For string quartet

Program Notes

This highly charged, expressionistic work exhibits music of lyric and force of velvet and sandpaper. The long and intense opening viola solo encapsulates the shape of the dense and rich contrapuntal music to come. The arch-like melody which punctuates the formal process with dramatic recurrences betrays the dramatic progression of the entire movement: increasing tension stems from distinct motives that are continuously set against each other. Temperamental clashing, juxtaposition and development lead to a climatic point of arrival highlighted by a 4-octave unison passage that culminates in an extended presentation of a charged ensemble figure first heard directly after the opening viola solo. The subsequent descending slope of the formal arch exhibits a concentrated recalling of material: principal motives weave around the now fragmented (in phrases and different instruments) solo line in music that is both serene and exhausted.