“I've been thinking a lot recently about togetherness and apartness; how while we grieve and reckon with the collective trauma of the pandemic we've been isolated from one another, but at the same time we're still struggling to find new ways to connect. In a certain sense, a string quartet epitomizes these ideas: it's a coming together of disparate things, fusing solo virtuosity with a more communal, receptive way of playing. All four parts are equal, and each player has to be both a follower and a leader. I've also been thinking about how wrong it feels to be creating something slow and somber to be performed now, when a return to music-making should really be a cause for joy and celebration.
"a string quartet is like a flock of birds" is structured in 9 interlocking movements, with slow, reflective meditations alternating with fast, rhythmic dances. The whole quartet is focused on the musical idea of togetherness: the 4 parts fit together like a puzzle, and only when all the parts are fit together do melodies emerge. Each section in the piece is about the players slowly finding each other. “—Paul Novak, Composition Ph.D., 2026
For the 2021 Exhibition "Maps of Form," presented digitally as well as at Café Logan.
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