a string quartet is like a flock of birds (2020) 
nine meditations and dances for string quartet

Commissioned by Kinetic Ensemble in Fall 2020

Performed Nov. 1st, 2020
Kinetic Ensemble - Textures of Change
Live Oak Friends Meeting House
Houston, TX

I've been thinking a lot recently about togetherness and apartness; how while we grieve and reckon with the collective trauma of the pandemic we've been isolated from one another, but at the same time we're still struggling to find new ways to connect. And in a certain sense, a string quartet epitomizes these ideas: it's a coming together of disparate things, fusing solo virtuosity with a more communal, receptive way of playing. All four parts are equal, and each player has to be both a follower and a leader. And I've also thinking about how wrong it feels to be creating something slow and somber to be performed now, when a return to music-making should really be a cause for joy and celebration. a string quartet is like a flock of birds is structured in 9 interlocking movements, with slow, reflective meditations alternating with fast, rhythmic dances. The whole quartet is focused on the musical idea of togetherness: the 4 parts fit together like a puzzle, and only when all the parts are fit together do melodies emerge. Each section in the piece is about the players slowly finding each other: sometimes overlapping, sometimes drifting apart into different kinds of motion, circling around each other like birds in flight. 

https://www.paulnovakmusic.com/
https://www.kineticensemble.org/

Image: Photo by Daniel Biber

a string quartet is like a flock of birds (2020) for string quartet

Paul Novak