The Piano Quartet represents a turning point for me in my approach to composition. 2017 was very hard for me as a composer as I was doubting myself and didn’t feel I had a compositional voice. The Piano Quartet was the first piece I wrote in 2018 after spending 3 months in Russia on Erasmus and I feel it really is a culmination of this exchange. Aesthetically it is very Russian, I made no attempt to hide my influences - which is quite obviously Shostakovich in this case, however working on this piece felt much more comfortable and I felt I knew what I wanted to do for the first time in a long time. Other than self-improvement, this piece gave me an interest in structure which I will continue to explore in the months to come.

Performed by the RedNote Ensemble at Plug 2018

Piano Quartet [2018] - Matthew Holmes

Composer // Trumpeter // Pianist - Alumnus of RCS (BMus) and RNCM (MMus) // Current PhD at RNCM