Stringsongs

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Stringsongs is a composition for string quartet by the American composer Meredith Monk. The work was commissioned by the Kronos Quartet who premiered the piece on January 22, 2005 in the Barbican Centre, London. [1] [2]

String quartet musical ensemble of four string players

A string quartet is a musical ensemble consisting of four string players – two violin players, a viola player and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group. The string quartet is one of the most prominent chamber ensembles in classical music, with most major composers, from the mid 18th century onwards, writing string quartets.

Meredith Monk American musician

Meredith Jane Monk is an American composer, performer, director, vocalist, filmmaker, and choreographer. Since the 1960s, Monk has created multi-disciplinary works which combine music, theatre, and dance, recording extensively for ECM Records. In 1991, Monk composed an opera called Atlas with the Houston Opera.

Kronos Quartet American string quartet

The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. They have been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for over forty years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classical music. More than 900 works have been written for them.

Contents

Composition

Stringsongs was Monk's first composition for string quartet. She described her inspiration and the composition process in the score program notes, writing:

I explored using instruments to create unexpected textures and sounds in much the same way that I have worked with the voice over many years. I was inspired by the profound musicianship and passionate commitment of the Kronos Quartet. During the rehearsal period, as I got to know the players, the music came to life in surprising ways, colored by the distinctive "voice" of each musician. [1]

Structure

The work has a duration of roughly 18 minutes and is composed in four movements: [1]

A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession. A movement is a section, "a major structural unit perceived as the result of the coincidence of relatively large numbers of structural phenomena".

A unit of a larger work that may stand by itself as a complete composition. Such divisions are usually self-contained. Most often the sequence of movements is arranged fast-slow-fast or in some other order that provides contrast.

  1. Cliff Light
  2. Tendrils
  3. Obsidian Chorale
  4. Phantom Strings

Reception

Reviewing the world premiere, Tom Service of The Guardian praised Stringsongs, writing, "[Monk's] music sidesteps traditional string quartet forms to create a work of mysterious, mythic power." [2] Nadia Sirota of WQXR-FM similarly lauded, "Her first string quartet, the piece explores texture and raw emotion that achieves maximum impact with minimum components." [3]

Tom Service British classical music presenter and journalist

Tom Service is a British writer, music journalist and television and radio presenter, who has written regularly for The Guardian since 1999 and presented on BBC Radio 3 since 2001. He is a regular presenter of The Proms for Radio 3 and has presented several documentaries on the subject of classical music. Since 2018, he has been Professor of Music at Gresham College.

<i>The Guardian</i> British national daily newspaper

The Guardian is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as The Manchester Guardian, and took its current name in 1959. Along with its sister papers The Observer and The Guardian Weekly, the Guardian is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust. The Scott Trust was created in 1936 "to secure the financial and editorial independence of the Guardian in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of the Guardian free from commercial or political interference". The Scott Trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to project the same protections for The Guardian as were originally built into the very structure of the Scott Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in journalism rather than to benefit an owner or shareholders.

Nadia Sirota American violist

Nadia Sirota is an American viola player. Her father is Robert Sirota, a composer and conductor.

The music critic George Hall was more critical of the music, however, calling the work "a more discursive four-movement piece that felt unwieldy." [4]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Monk, Meredith (2005). "Stringsongs: Programme Note". Boosey & Hawkes . Retrieved August 3, 2015.
  2. 1 2 Service, Tom (January 24, 2005). "Kronos Quartet". The Guardian . Retrieved August 3, 2015.
  3. ↑ Sirota, Nadia (July 17, 2011). "Meredith Monk: On the Up and Up". WQXR-FM . Retrieved August 3, 2015.
  4. ↑ Hall, George (March 6, 2015). "Smith Quartet review – Steve Reich headlines minimalist bill". The Guardian . Retrieved August 3, 2015.
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