Quatuor Diotima
November 10, 2013 — Berlin

Clara Iannotta 'A Failed Entertainment' (2013), for string quartet [excerpt]

Negative Capability

Günter Steinke - "...kaum einen Hauch" für Bassflöte (1991)

https://cassandramiller.wordpress.com/2015/05/10/about-bach/

This string quartet is an expansion of a solo work for viola (of the same name) which was commissioned by philanthropist Daniel Cooper for violist Pemi Paull. It’s a piece about process, about Pemi’s musicality, about Bach of course, and in the end, about the Quatuor Bozzini.

I first took a recording of a short phrase (the first phrase in major) of the famous Chaconne from Bach’s Partita no. 2, performed live by Pemi. I then meticulously transcribed the recording with the help of some software — this is a process I’ve developed over some years to apprehend the exact rhythmic musicality of a performance, capturing as well various artifacts such as the viola’s upper partials as they change within each bow-stroke.

The opening of the piece is simply this transcribed phrase of Bach, with a harmony of my own making, which turns the phrase into a gently jaunty chorale. From there the phrase goes through a somewhat inaudible process that is simply let to run, until it runs itself out. It’s a constant meandering, a non-developmental piece in an extreme sense. My interest (and freedom) in exploring such a simple form comes directly from working with the Quatuor Bozzini, and this string quartet version is a souvenir of gratitude for years of great inspiration.

About Bach

About Bach, Quatuor Bozzini, premiere, excerpt: last 6 minutes (2015)

Enno Poppe	
Koffer, pour grand ensemble(extrait)
Ensemble intercontemporain 
Cornelius Meister, direction  

Enregistré en direct le 09.12.2016 par Radio France à la Cité de la musique-Philharmonie de Paris

Enno Poppe, Koffer(extrait)

For Soprano and Ensemble
Recording performed by Juliet Fraser and Klangforum Wien, conducted by Bas Wiegers.
Commissioned by SWR, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and Casa da Musica Porto. 
First performed by Juliet Fraser and Klangforum Wien, conducted by Titus Engel at Donaueschingen Musiktage, 14 October 2016.

View score - 
https://issuu.com/editionpeters/docs/ep14188_online

Skin (2015-16)

Performed by Alex MacDonald at ANAM, June 2018.

Soliloquy for Violin (viola transcription)

White Lace

A recording of Liza Lim's work 'bioluminescence' [2018/19]. Recorded at the Ian Potter Southbank Centre, University of Melbourne - Melbourne Conservatorium, March 2020.

Performer: Sean Quinn - www.seanquinncomposer.com

Bioluminescence - Liza Lim

Extract of a live performance of Rebecca Saunders's 'Nether' (2019) with Ensemble Musikfabrik, conducted by Bas Wiegers. Performed at WDR Funkhaus, Köln, on 3 November 2019; recorded by WDR.

Nether

REBECCA SAUNDERS Nether (extract)

Schubert's Fantasy in F minor D.940, performed by Sam Colcheedas (primo) and Chris Wong (secondo) in Trinity Chapel, Melbourne, 2019.

Thanks to Chris Healey for sound engineering.

Schubert Fantasy in F minor D.940

Micah Thompson is a composer, teacher, and distance runner.

Negative Capability

Micah Thompson - Composer

Recent comments

Evan J Lawson

Related tracks