'Línte' (2016) was written as a gift for Greg Ellis, 1st violinist of the Vanbrugh Quartet. Greg announced in 2015 that he would be leaving the Vanbrugh at the end of the 2016/17 season after more than 30 years with the group. In that time the Vanbrugh has premiered nearly a dozen of my works and my relationship with them is one of the longest and most fruitful of my career. 
I wanted to write something which would feature Greg as the quartet’s leader and decided to look at types of unaccompanied choral singing which have a follow-the-leader style, such as Scottish Psalm Singing and Kentucky Lined-Out Hymnody. It was an old American gospel tune called ‘I am a poor pilgrim of sorrow’ which I decided to base my quartet upon – passages of music reflecting the lined-out hymnody style (rhythmically complex, and occasionally somewhat blurred harmonically) alternate with contrasting sections, both texturally (focusing on the leader alone) and musically.

Línte means lines in Irish. The performance on this recording is by the Vanbrugh Quartet.

Línte (string quartet #17)

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Ian Wilson (Belfast, 1964) has composed over 200 works in many different genres which have been performed and broadcast on six continents. He is a member of Aosdána, Ireland’s national association of creative artists, and his music is published by G. Ricordi & Co. Ltd and Universal Edition. 
Visit: www.ianwilson.ie

Línte (string quartet #17)

Ian Wilson, composer