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String Quartet
2023
Cello
Viola
Violin
- Program Notes
- Duality of Being is an attempt on my part to combine contemporary extended string techniques and sounds with more traditional tonal sonorities. The resultant work reaches deep into an existential plane reflective of reality, trying to exist within two or more states at any given moment. It is human nature to categorize and organize our world and surroundings into perceived order to make more sense of what we experience. This is also true of music, particularly that of the western classical tradition, where musicians for generations have classified and separated music into stylistic categories often with strict and clear-cut definitions of what does and does not fall within the category. While this work is not a direct commentary on this tendency, the work attempts to fall within the grey area between classifications. Expectations about what kind of gestures the work will develop with are deliberately misleading to listeners, utilizing compound gestures i.e., extended techniques superimposed with tonal gestures, to further blur the lines of what ideologies this piece is reflective of. What this work truly attempts to reflect is the imperfections of the natural world and the human experience; at times abrasive and difficult to understand, other times beautiful and pleasant. Perhaps the most reflective of our experience is where both are true. Beautiful moments of life with a crushing backdrop. Sad moments with a hopeful undertone. Life is not made up of distinct moments and one-dimensional emotions, it is a collective of complex emotions and experiences that form a stream of consciousness that is a human life. Duality of Being not only looks to reflect these experiences, but also seeks to adopt these aspects into itself through purely sonic means.
- Performer Credits
- Cole Habekost - Violin, Mark Chen - Violin, Ariana Mascari - Viola, Alex Lavine - Cello