String Quartet No. 1 "Self-Portrait"

A self-portrait is often an intimate creation for many painters—an act of observing and examining oneself through the mirror and the brush. Similarly, string quartet often embodies a composer’s sincere musical discourses and the intimate conversation among four string musicians.

This string quartet is a musical self-portrait—a raw reflection of the author’s mind state and inner world after the COVID-19 pandemic. The act of composing becomes the process of self-examination, rediscovery, and a dialogue with one’s soul. The author’s inner voice embodied as the four players, who, across four interwoven movements, engage in a critical and philosophical exploration of the true self.

For reference, quotations drawn below are fragments of inspiration for this work:

“All sorts of different artists throughout history have drawn self-portrait. ... Some say a self-portrait is a snapshot of the artist’s persona, frozen in time. ...” "Showing your own nakedness and having it be seen is to accept how you really are. The pretty and the ugly.”

 - Blue Period, Tsubasa Yamaguchi

1st MVT. Prelude — Ticking Time to Tempest (0:00)

“What else is our life but a series of preludes to that unknown Hymn, the first and solemn note of which is intoned by Death? ...”

- Les Préludes, Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein

2nd MVT. Intermezzo — Stagnant Pastoral in Dream (9:12)

“Mere octopus traps, Evanescent dreams beneath, A midsummer moon.”

- Octopus Traps, Basho Matsuo

3rd MVT. Nocturne — Silenced Words in Darkness (14:15)

“Notturno is nocturnal because it is silent. It is silent because it is made up of unspoken words and incomplete discourses. …”

- Notturno, Luciano Berio

4th MVT. Rondo — Endless Cycle to Salvation (25:50)

“... The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”

- The Myth of Sisyphus, Albert Camus

Composer: Thean Yao Sheng 鄧耀聖

Conductor: Jing-Yuan Liu 劉敬遠

Violin I: Pei Hsin Liu 劉珮芯

Violin II: Jhih-An Lin 林芷安

Viola: Hui-Yu Ting 丁卉妤

Cello: Wan Lun Tsui 崔菀倫