Quartet Stories
(2008-09)
for four trombones
duration: 13'
Score (pdf) 373 KB |
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Program Notes
Quartet Stories is a piece whose two movements were written over a period of 16 months. I wrote the second movement, Spring Lightning, first. It stood on its own until the summer of 2009, when I completed the first movement, Winter Nocturne. I wrote the following notes after completing Spring Lightning in March of 2008:
“In early 2008, UNT’s Bell Street Four trombone quartet received wonderful news: we had been selected for the final round of the International Trombone Association quartet competition. When the other members of the quartet asked me to write a piece for us to play at the ITF, I was flattered. Spring Lightning was the result.
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“Spring” refers to the season in which I wrote the piece, and to the joyous energy and sense of rebirth associated with that time of year. The work makes references to musical “springs” as well, especially The Rite of Spring and Copland’s Appalachian Spring. The clearest of these references is a four-note cell (Db-Bb-Eb-Bb), borrowed from Stravinsky and used as a point of departure for harmony, melody, and counterpoint.
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The title’s “lightning” has no programmatic significance. However, certain colors in the work, and the use of mutes, perpetual-motion structures, and half-step dissonances could be heard as references to it. Nor is the music “lightning-fast,” although it contains tremendous energy.”
Spring Lightning was premiered by the Bell Street Four trombone quartet at the 2008 International Trombone Festival, held from May 28-31 in Salt Lake City, Utah (with the composer playing third trombone). The piece has since become the second movement of a larger work, Quartet Stories.
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The first movement, Winter Nocturne, is a somber, reflective, and dramatic contrast to its companion. Most of the thematic material is presented by unaccompanied soloists within the quartet (including those playing the inner parts!). This frees the music from an always steady tempo, and highlights the expressive, soulful qualities of the trombone. It also allows each member of the quartet to tell their story uninhibited, and to refract it through the music.
This work is published by Kagarice Brass Editions.