Duration: ca. 8 minutes

Premiered April 2024 by Dior Quartet at Mostly Modern Festival—Netherlands,
Middelburg, Netherlands.

I. Rodeo:
This virtuosic opening movement is characterized by it's high energy and unabating attitude. Rapid interplay between the different voices, paired with ostinatos of different groupings create a blur of sound that relentlessly pushes forward throughout the movement. The material undergoes three evolutions, coming out each time more exuberant than the last. The first of these evolutions is indicated halfway through the movement by a sudden switch to pizzicato dance rhythms in the viola and violoncello, which unbalance the steady floating melodies of the violins. Rather than finding a way to stabilize itself, the quartet leans even harder into the unanchored phasing grooves, carrying with full force into a blazing ending.

II. Porcelain:
The title of the piece - Porcelain - was inspired by this movement. Porcelain dolls are quite fascinating to me due to the polarizing reactions they get out of us. Both beauty and uncanniness can be found in them; this inspired me to sonically explore the numb, unsettling feeling I get from these dolls. This movement is an exploration of gazing onto a manmade creation whose purpose is to imitate life, yet feels indescribably lifeless and hollow.

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