Quartet No. 1 in A minor: 1. Moderato String Quartet - Digital Sheet Music

SKU: A0.1703176

Written for the 2010 Classical Revolution PDX (CRPDX) String Quartet Composer Competition, the first movement opens with a rhythmic motif in the 2nd violin ("like a little snare drum") that takes a few measure to get going, and then permeates throughout this sonata-form movement. The "A" section features a pleading melody consisting of a pickup tied to a series of slurred tuplets, both of which become motifs in their own right, under which a syncopated bass line is maintained by the cello. The viola then picks up the energy with a 16th-note accompaniment figure, leading into the "B" section, which prominently features a bass line borrowed from the band Muse ("Hysteria") that is passed back and forth between cello and viola. In the development, after a brief pause following a few iterations of the "pleading" motif, a piu-mosso section ensues, in which all the motifs are passed around the quartet with a sense of urgency perpetuated by the 16th-note accompaniment motif and a rising syncopated line. A climactic note is held by the 1st violin, while the development continues in a more subdued fashion (a la U2) through a few chord progression cycles, delivering us back to the "A" section, this time with a peaceful hymn overlying the "little snare drum". In true sonata form, the "B" section ultimately returns to the tonic, and the movement ends brashly as the "Hysteria" bass line overtakes the "pleading" motif.

The audio recording featuers Lucia Conrad (violin 1), Tylor Neist (violin 2), Marissa Winship (viola), and Diane Chaplin (cello).