Irish Echoes

String Quartet 3: Scéalta cois Tine (Fireside Tales)

String Quartets

A collection of varied pieces for string quartet, both single and multi-movement. 

A Congeries for String Quartet

Third and last movement of the most recent quartet for A Congeries. All titles are quotes from Keats' 'Ode to a Nightingale'.

'Fled is that music: —Do I wake or sleep?' Mvt3: 'I have been half in love with easeful Death'

1st movement completed 20 Aug 2021. The somewhat subdued ending points toward the 2nd mvt, which incorporates a plaintive (and famous) Irish song from Donegal.

String Quartet 2 ('From Ireland'); Mvt. 1 'Anamúil' (Lively) (Completed)

This second movement of 'String Quartet 2' includes 3 complete iterations of the tune from Donegal known as 'She Moved Through the Fair,' as well as variations and echoes of the tune in other passages.

String Quartet 2 ('From Ireland'), Mvt 2, 'Cinniúnach' (Tragic) (Completed)

String Quartet 3: 'Scéalta cois Tine' (Fireside Tales). Mvt 1 'Eachtra' (An Adventure)

String Quartet 3: ' Scéalta cois Tine' (Fireside Tales) Mvt. 2 'Scéal Brónach' (A Tragic Tale)

String Quartet 3: 'Scéalta cois Tine', Mvt 3: 'Scéal Grianmhar' (A Cheerful Tale)

String Quartet 3: 'Scéalta cois Tine'. Mvt 4: 'Eachtra Eile' (Another Adventure)

Finally completed. This piece incorporates a Cork reel from Petrie's Collection of Ancient Irish Music, as well as a new reel tune I wrote myself. I suppose that's a Cork reel, too, since I live here. I hope you like it.

From the Madhouse: Céilí (Completed)

A drama for string quartet conveying the combined pathos and lightheartedness that characterizes much of Irish life and art. The piece itself, through its dramatic arc, shares a similar diversity.

He Laughed on his Way to the Gallows... (Op. 97, 2019)

Completed. This incorporates two Irish reels, 'The Country Girl's Fortune' (a Connemara reel) and a shorter reel from Clare, as well as some reeling strains added by myself. It's very short, but would serve well as an amusing and exciting encore.

Reeling at Mourne (Completed)

The first movement is completed. The title and titles for each movement are lines from Keats' 'Ode to a Nightingale'.

'Fled is that music:—Do I wake or sleep?' Mvt. 1: 'And with thee fade away into the forest dim'

'Dancing In Plague Time' was completed on July 22, 2020. Its predecessor, 'Reeling at Mourne', was based on actual Irish reel tunes, whereas this one is original stylized Irish dance music (slip jig and reel) with occasional quirky divagations. The title refers to the time of lockdown in 2020, when the piece was written, and reflects both my interest in Irish traditional musics and the need to keep up our spirits during this difficult time.

Dancing In Plague Time (Op. 101, July 2020)

String Quartet, Mvt. 2. The overall title and the movement titles are quotations from Keats' 'Ode to a Nightingale.'

'Fled is that music:—Do I wake or sleep?' Mvt2: 'O for a beaker full of the warm South' (Completed)

R.A. Moulds studied music at the University of Southern Mississippi.