string quartet no. 13

I fairly recently completed my latest chamber work. Like with the 12th, this finishes with a consolatory adagio as its heart, though this time it's a bit more complex and starts with a variant of the main motif of the first movement which is highly chromatic -- virtually atonal -- in character. The work as a whole is among my longest chamber works with its four movements including two contrasting scherzos, one rather hesitant and shadowy and the other short and vigorous. Would be glad to hear reactions from those who have managed to get inside my musical language or perhaps even one or two newer members who have been maybe following in the background but not yet actively participated. For anyone who doesn't have time to listen to the whole work but might like to dip in, I'd recommend the last movement (starting at 26'02"). The work can be found here https://play.reelcrafter.com/dko22/latestworks

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  • Another fine work, David.  I'm partial to your 12th SQ, but this one is equally well done.  With your music, one must be prepared to settle in and let themselves be immersed in the music.  The harmonies are like a kaleidoscope of colors shifting and transforming around you; dynamic, mesmerizing, and hauntingly beautiful.  

  • the last movement of my 12th seems to have had perhaps the most positive feedback of any of my works to date but I'm glad you seem to enjoy my latest and I much appreciate the comments. I know my harmonies can confuse those who approach my music from too academic a standpoint as they are generally chosen with expressive needs in mind rather than a specific system. On the other hand, a fair amount is rather diatonic as well.

    Anyway, nice to see you back on the forum -- things have gone rather quiet here of late.

  • I've read that you're a self-taught composer. I always said that no self-taught composer would reach such a high level and you repeatedly proved me wrong. I hate you.

    You must have studied music at a higher level. Come on, be honest, perhaps you didn't study music composition, but you must have done something at an academic level.

    At least some of the self-taught composers at this forum have the decency to write music at a comfortable level. They're nice people. I like them.

    • At last I've arrived. Dragged out from the ranks of the instantly forgotten composers to the small select group of the hated. You can't imagine what a compliment that is, Rowy! And no, I've never studied any sort of music at an academic level, other than History of Music as a subsidiary subject in my final year at uni.

      My music is supposed to be comforting, rather than comfortable, though of course only a small number will respond.

       

    • My world is crumbling down thanks to you, but I forgive you. You probably didn't know what you were doing wink

    • I never know what I'm doing until I finish a piece and often not even then.......

    • That reminds me of something my teacher once said. He was 60 years old, a former prodigy who had written more than 1,000 compositions. He said something like, "You know, I think I'm starting to understand music a bit."

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