String Quartet No. 1: Jests and Tenderness
[premiere by Mendelssohn String Quartet: Oct 2000]

String Quartet No. 2: Flight
[premiere by Daedalus String Quartet: Nov 2003]

String Quartet No. 3: Air
[premiere by the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival: January 2005]

String Quartet No. 4: The Infinite Sphere
[commissioned by the Daedalus String Quartet and the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts, premiered by the Daedalus String Quartet at Wolf Trap in January 2010]

String Quartet No. 5: Through the Night
[commissioned by the Emerson String Quartet and an anonymous donor in honor of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, premiered by the Emerson String Quartet at the Kölner Philharmonie in March 2010]

String Quartet No. 6: Fantasies

Current conventional wisdom tells us that the Western Classical tradition is outdated and irrelevant. Pointing to diminishing audiences and stuffy concert formalities, critics claim that it is time for a complete upheaval in repertoire, concert venue, and performance practice.

While there are serious problems in the current manner of presentation for art music, including many widely accepted practices that are woefully disconnected from the realities of life in the 21st century, there is still much of value, much worth preserving in the Western Classical tradition. Taking inspiration from the concluding passage of Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, The Invisible Cities String Quartet Cycle sets out to find the attitudes and potentials from the Classical heritage that are most worth passing on.

The Invisible Cities String Quartet Cycle is a set of six string quartets, each centering on a different traditional form. In the same way in which the cinematic close-up can reveal more than any dialogue, with close focus each of these forms reveals a wealth of possibilities and a surprising relevance to contemporary thought and experience.

The quartets also bring into focus the points at which Classical forms break down under the weight of contemporary expression. This tension between coherence and chaos is a fundamental expressive feature of the cycle.

String Quartet No. 1: Jests and Tenderness.
The focus of the first quartet is the Classical scherzo, or “joke.” Approaching the scherzo through the eyes of contemporary psychology and anthropology, Jests and Tenderness explores the fine line between rage and humor, with three increasingly agitated scherzi followed by a serene nocturne.

String Quartet No. 2: Flight.
The second quartet focuses on the literal meaning of the word fugue (flight) with six brief fugues, each depicting flight from a different perspective, from the inspiring magnificence of nature to the lethal manipulations of manmade aircraft. The six movements are titled Birds, Insects and Paper Airplanes, Stars, Langley, Swings, and Daedalus and Icarus.

String Quartet No. 3: Air.
The shortest of the six quartets, “Air” is in five continuous movements (Aura-Aria-Air-Aria-Aura) totaling just over ten minutes. The centerpiece is a passionate, Italian-influenced aria, with florid ornamentation of pitch, tempo and timbre.

String Quartet No. 4: The Infinite Sphere.
Taking Pascal’s reference to an “infinite sphere whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere” as a starting point, this fourth quartet explores the potentials of Classical circular forms and techniques – in particular the rondo form and canonical rounds – pitted against the chaos of infinity.

String Quartet No. 5: Through the Night.
A passacaglia/chaconne/theme-and-variations, the fifth string quartet is based, literally and figuratively, on the Welsh tune “All Through the Night,” alternating variation movements with dream-interludes.

STILL TO COME