contemporain

Surfaces for string quartet and electronics
All parts played my myself.

Surfaces for string quartet and electronics (excerpt only)

Untitled For Gongs, String Quartet And Electronics (2013)

'Breathe for String Quartet, Crystal Glasses and Electronics' (2013)

Breath 1: Out of Thin Air
Breath 2: Hesitation Doubt
Breath 3: Obstacle I Trip Over As I Try to Catch My Breath
Breath 4: The Obstacle Becomes the Tool
Breath 5: With Space for All That Is

Inspired by a field recording of my mother’s breathing on a respirator, this piece is about the exchange of energy within an organism. In people and some mammals the act of breathing in and out can be heard – or made audible. Manmade systems often imitate the sound of breathing, for example, HVAC systems. At a larger level this exchange happens as part of the transpiration of the earth where water and air is exchanged through plants and trees and returned to earth through rain.

This piece combines all these sounds with the acoustic sounds of the string quartet. Each instrument has a pitch set and a defining arc – inspired by a sense of respiration.

Breathe was premiered on August 6, 2014 with this performance by Cornelius Dufallo (violin 1), Jennifer Choi (violin 2), Lev “Ljova” Zhurbin (viola) and Yves Dharamraj (cello).

Surfaces for string quartet and electronics (excerpt only)

davedmendoza