Wound Up/Unwind - Wound Up for String Quartet and Cajón
Written: 2025
Total Duration: 10'
for string quartet and percussion (cajón with pedal and handpan—D Kurd 10: D) A, B-flat, C, D, E, F, G, A, C )
Commissioned by FAB5 quintet with support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs
World Premiere: FAB5, Mostly Modern Festival | The Netherlands, Oostkerk, Middelburg, Middelburg, Zeeland, The Netherlands, May 2, 2025
US Premiere: Mostly Modern Festival. FAB5, Mostly Modern Festival, Arthur Zankel Music Center, Helen Filene Ladd Concert Hall, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY, June 18, 2026
Publisher: Bill Holab Music
For More Information: https://robertpaterson.com/wound-up-unwind
VIdeo: https://youtu.be/RPyXPYx-nuo


PROGRAM NOTE
For many years, my wife Victoria and her FAB5 quintet (string quartet and percussion), have entertained thousands of people at numerous performance spaces and travel hubs in New York City, including Moynihan Train Hall, Oculus World Trade Center, Javits Center, and Chelsea Market. Having seen many of their shows, especially those at travel hubs, there's a certain tension and release you experience watching people wait anxiously for their trains, and then the release they feel when they are finally on their way. I've had these experiences myself, so I wanted to create two pieces that emulate these feelings.

Wound Up/Unwind consists of two contrasting pieces for string quartet and percussion. The first, Wound Up, for string quartet and cajón, imitates the feeling of being worried, anxious, and frustrated, especially while waiting to board a train. The second, Unwind, for string quartet and handpan, is calm and soothing, perhaps emulating the satisfying feeling of relaxing in a quiet seat as the train leaves the station. Both pieces can be performed independently and in any order.

Wound Up/Unwind is written for and commissioned by the FAB5 quintet with support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Wound Up for String Quartet and Cajón

“I’m a professional dancer and movement artist, creating powerful visuals that bring music to life

I'm a Freelance Music Producer who is also into Holistic Healing through music and sound

American composer Robert Paterson is a true New Yorker—born and bred in Buffalo, he lived in Rochester and Ithaca for over ten years, in New York City for over twenty years, and now lives in Saratoga Springs, near the Adirondacks. Paterson’s colorful music embraces a wide variety of themes, everything from goddesses and online dating to mathematics and the environment. His music is filled with emotion and fierce rhythmic energy, marked by elegance, wit, and meticulous craftsmanship. Named Composer of The Year by the Classical Recording Foundation at Carnegie Hall, Paterson is the winner of the Alfred I. DuPont Award, and his opera Three Way won the Grammy® under Best Classical Producer of the Year. His music is often a Best of the Year pick on National Public Radio. His orchestral tone poem, Dark Mountains, regularly airs on NPR’s Performance Today. Three Way premiered with Nashville Opera, then BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music), and across the United States. Minnesota Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, The Oratorio Society of New York, Buffalo Philharmonic, Albany Pro Musica, Albany Symphony, Musica Sacra, Austin Symphony, Vermont Symphony, and ensembles worldwide perform his works. Paterson gives masterclasses at the Curtis Institute of Music, New York University, the Aspen Music Festival, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and more. He is the Artistic Director and house composer for Mostly Modern Projects. Robert is a lifelong vegan and advocates for animals and the environment, celebrating the natural world with ground-breaking works such as his Triple Concerto, A New Eaarth, Listen, and I Go Among Trees.

back off, ten toes down on the concrete

—

we drillin' from the shadows





2026 
Konzert - kolkhorst* "ziel_punkt_LG"
14.02.2026 -  Jekyll&Hyde - Lüneburg
+ special guest
 

Konzert - kolkhorst* "hit me baby one more time"
14.03.2026 - Kaffee Klatsch - Lüneburg
+ special guest


*Originalbesetzung (Drum Computer/Gitarre/Voc.) 
 
—

2025
Buch: "Schwellenwind" 
Die poetische Reise 
durch Wildnis und Verfall.

—

2023
NISA - Mit Wem (NISA + Florentina)
Text und Komposition: Kolkhorst*
Universal Music
59 Wochen Top 100 Germany

*lt. GEMA und Finanzamt Lüneburg
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMAm759ofi8&list=RDTMAm759ofi8&start_radio=1

—

2015
Raufazer: "Kopf an Kopf" Video
Komposition: Wolle, Eike, Carsten, Kai-Uwe
Text: Kai-Uwe
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OcqzbizPj8&list=RD3OcqzbizPj8&start_radio=1

2010 
Kolkhorst - Alles verrückt
NBC / Serie GRIMM Folge
 "Leave it to beavers"
Sony BMG
link: https://www.imdb.com/de/title/tt2356209/soundtrack/

2009 
Deutscher Musikautorenpreis
GEMA / Adlon Berlin
link: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutscher_Musikautor*innenpreis

2007
Kolkhorst "Mensch ärgere dich nicht"
NDR Titelmusik "Ina's Nacht"
Universal Music

2006
Live mit Camouflage
"Relocated" support 17 venues

2002
besser: "Bi" Album TR001
Universal Publishing

2002
besser: "NDR Jahresrückblick 2002 "
Regie: Horst Königstein, mit Peter Lohmeyer 
"Maria", "Schön" und "Liebeslied" live TV mit besser

1996
DAS DASEIN Album weltweit TIS / WARNER
Komposition / Text: Kolkhorst
Erste verkäufliche "CD extra" (CD ROM) der Welt.
Mit Apunto (Argentinien)

"Denn selbst die echten Dinge wirken unwirklich, wenn die Scheinwelt applaudiert, ohne hinzusehen."


Kolkhorst-Modus, das ist Post-narrativer Realismus.






kolkhorst 2025

Wound Up for String Quartet and Cajón

Robert Paterson Composer