string quartet no. 12

[David]

well, I've just completed a new string quartet. The opening movement was marked "dolente" before I even wrote a note, I think and the mood is reflective of the times we live in (as well as one or two personal things), though there is a more lively central section. By a piece of bizarre serendipity, the first violin section after inserting  the development was accidentally pushed back a bar or two and I liked the result so much, I decided to keep a long stretch of this "mistake" with some editing. The chromaticism becomes more extreme and the music at times seems almost becalmed.

The scherzo is somewhat ghostly and shadowy in places and the tension is finally released in the "dolce a molto espressivo" finale which is, I think, one of my more beautiful and heartfelt movements. Some who find my more chromatic language hard to stomach might possibly still enjoy this movement and this I posted it separately in the forum's music section. I'm not looking for specific critique on the work but am interested in whether those who some some sympathy with my idiom in the first place find the piece at all convincing as a whole and whether the structure of the first movement makes any sense.

The work in its entirety can be heard on Reelcrafter https://play.reelcrafter.com/dko22/chamberworks

score scherzo 01 - Full score - String quartet no. 12.pdf

[Ivor]

Hello, David,
Well, dolente was about right and if I may say so, it felt acerbic at times, occasionally powerful almost to the point of crying out.

I was able to listen up to the 12 minute mark - possibly where the next "movement" / section however you see it, starts. I'll get back to that tomorrow.
It's lyrical in a sad way, the chromatic harmony bringing a deep emotion; held me mesmerised. Sadness got straight through to me as if hope is about to be lost, faith under threat.

At 3 minutes exactly it seemed to let up a little. At first I thought it was a new section with the imitative entries and more assertive drive but wondered if it was an extension of those first 3 minutes - which it turned out to be: at around 7 minutes, ideas of the opening reappeared.

Altogether a beautiful work thus far. It's pace and emotion reminded me of a certain late quartet by a well known classical composer although in an entirely different vein.

Your attention to dynamics and articulation could have fooled me into thinking it was a live recording.
Wonderful.
.

[David]

Ivor, please don't insult me by comparing my quartet to Beethoven..... No seriously, of course the late works of him and Schubert are a primary influence on my own (together with Faure, Janacek and arguably Shostakovich). The central section with imitative entries is not consciously related to the opening "dolente" and should be rather regarded as a contrast. The Chris Hein solo strings have a particularly plangent sound which works quite well for my more miserable music -- it was a conscious choice to switch to Cinematic Studio for the warmer last movement which still awaits you.

[Ivor]

Oh dear...apologies. I've heard that Beethoven was quite good at music - he formed a public company still in business today, I'm told. But I did say your work is in an entirely different vein!
It caught my ears because the piece in question was the first to convince me that the String Quartet could be taken seriously as a vehicle for personal expression.
.
.

[David]

Beethoven was indeed, as you say, a quite good composer. I fear my plc will not still be in business in a couple of hundred years. I can only do what I can do.......

[Raymond Jacob]

Yes… it is strongly convincing and I enjoyed every moment of the ride it took me on. Bold and easy-going at once. I listened also to your 1st quartet and parts of your 2 and 3 quartets. You used to put the cello as the right-most instrument and it was never allowed to fully speak. At some point along your journey you changed that, and the no. 12 recording sounds mature and skillful, not only in the writing, but in the the rendering/mixing. I had a rewarding time listening tonight. Bravo. -Ray

[David]

Hi Raymond -- many thanks for your comments and I'm glad you enjoyed the piece. You set me thinking about the panning which I hadn't paid much attention to before. The bulk of the quartets and all the first three use VSL solo strings with default Synchron player panning which is in fact probably too widely spaced. The 12th quartet uses Chris Hein in the first two movements and Cinematic Studio for the last but these are both Kontakt instruments without channel panning so the only separation is whatever was used in the recording. Looks like you prefer this approach. Possibly the ideal would be somewhere in the middle and it's something I should have a look at.

[Raymond Jacob]

Hi, David - When I was listening to your quartets, my mind's eye was visualizing the stage, where I'm used to seeing vln, vln, cello, viola sitting left to right from the audience perspective.... the viola sitting opposite violin 1. But what I was hearing in your nos. 1,2,3 was vln, vln, viola, cello. In your no. 12 I heard vln, vln, cello, viola. I mentioned this to my wife (violinist) who said the cello and viola often swap places depending on the preference of the group. So I googled pictures of quartets on stage and saw a mixture. ....some groups put the viola on the outside...some put the cello on the outside. Which means I don't know what I'm talking about and no one should listen to me, ever. But seriously, thank you for explaining what you used to make these. They are lovely recordings and I so enjoyed listening to them. --Ray

[David]

the classic seating is vln, vln, viola,cello but as you say, the last two are quite often reversed and other combinations may also be possible - I've certainly seen the occasional oddity. Incidentally, while listening to the 1st quartet -- a very early work written at least 30 years ago -- I still heard some annoying static passages so have made a number of improvements both in the score and the rendering. I still like early works like this because of the nice tunes but am fully aware of some of the deficiencies.

[Ivor]

At last I found time to listen from 12' to the end.
The scherzo, to me for most part, sounded demonic and I bet a nightmare to play. I thought I heard a lot of harmonics, sometimes swiftly moving. It's a clever construction and I'd have loved to have seen the score. The detailed articulations are noticeable.
As you say, the third section (from around 18'30") sounds like a resolution is possible. Lyrical, biased toward the less discordant (I use the word 'discord' rather than 'atonal' because the chromaticism seems more measured). (For me, 'atonal' doesn't mean 'anything goes as long as it doesn't sound concordant'! Rather that it avoids tonal centre wherever possible, if that makes sense.)

Altogether a fine work.

[David]

I'm attaching the score for the scherzo so you can get a better idea of what's going on, Ivor. You'll see that there is very little in the way of harmonics and no fast ones (I generally avoid that as probably impractical to play and the jagged figurations here are probably demanding enough) though the sul pont. with the Chris Hein library sounds a bit harmonics-like. The score is obviously written around the specific artics, phrasing etc for this library and for other libraries or human players,there would be a few differences, though hopefully not dramatically so.

Anyway, I appreciate your getting to the end of this and am glad you seem to have responded to the piece. Incidentally, I too hesitate to use the word "atonal" as there are those who argue the term is completely meaningless. Although in the first two movements of this work it would be generally pointless to append a key signature, it's more because it's often bitonal or the key is changing so fast rather than the fact there is no identifiable tonal centre.