Instrumentation

2 vln.vla.2 vlc

Availability

Score and parts in preparation

Programme Notes

Wreath - for Franz Schubert is a single-movement work for string quintet. The central string trio of violin, viola and cello play arco throughout, a gradually unfolding "lifespan" of entwined "blooms". The outer violin and cello outline them in pizzicato. The players are loosely co-ordinated, but within specific boundaries, so that within certain limits no two performances would be the same, and the duration is flexible: between fifteen and thirty minutes, depending on the players, or maybe the weather.

The inescapable relation to Schubert's double-cello quintet will be clear, especially to its slow movement. At a recent (devastating) performance of it I was fascinated over again by the rôle of the second cello - at once lead singer, commentator and umpire.

I am most grateful to the great Danish String Quartet for giving me the time and encouragement to realize and develop this new path in my work.

Wreath

Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ (Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands)

Danish String Quartet/Johannes Rostamo

Wreath

Flagey (Brussels, Belgium)

Danish String Quartet/Johannes Rostamo

Wreath

Tanglewood Music Center (Lenox, MA, USA)

Danish String Quartet/Johannes Rostamo

Wreath

Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall (New York City, NY, USA)

Danish String Quartet/Johannes Rostamo

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Wreath

Vancouver Playhouse (Vancouver, BC, Canada)

Danish String Quartet/Johannes Rostamo