for Elliot

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Quartet

2024

Cello

English Horn

Oboe

Viola

Violin

Program Notes: "for Elliot" is an oboe quartet that was written with the American sound and lifestyle in mind. I wrote this piece about the last year of my life, my first year in college. In high school, I wrote a letter to Elliott Carter as an exercise in an English class focussing on existentialism, asking why he wrote the way he wrote. I wrote the beginning of the piece while I was in North Carolina in the summer of 2024 and a lot of the music I was listening to and surrounded by was music by Elliott Carter and Bluegrass. As a result it picks up some of the traits of blue grass such as the occasional rhythmic grooves and harmonic spontaneity and from Elliott Carter, the complexity and depth. When I wrote the letter in high school, I spelled his name as Elliot, hence the name of the piece is for Elliot. This spelling is purposeful. This piece is in a sense a letter to Carter. While I try to emulate him, I also in the same way wanted to emulate American music as a whole. I wanted to explore all aspects of American life through music, which is why the piece shows the influences of Ives, Copland, Quincy Jones, Punch Brothers, film music and rock music. Its fast pacing and busy textures reflect the busy way of life as a young adult in this country.
Publisher: James Bernard