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Work Overview
It has been a privilege and an honour to compose for my friends in the Arditti String Quartet for the quartet's 50th Jubilee. Thanks also goes to the Villa Aurora for their support of my work recently, granting me the time to muse and open ears and eyes to new worlds.
Many years ago, I had the great fortune to go on tour with the Arditti Quartet, performing an oboe quintet by the English composer James Clarke. I recall my uncertainty about our tutti beginning. However, I eventually noticed a slight movement in Irvine's shoulder - was that the secret key, that rhythmic sniff that preceded the upbeat? I may never know, too shy to ask back then and uninitiated into the mysterious brains of a string quartet. So, it has been pure joy to be given the chance to divine again that upbeat and to create a musical adventure together.
As the name In Speak suggests, it employs the use of voice as well, implying conversation or being in voice or in dialogue with others. A poem by musician Matthew MacDonald, entitled "Octopus Rehearsal" and written specifically for the Arditti Quartet, offers a textual and dramaturgical guideline for "In Speak," reflecting on the intricacies of performing and rehearsing contemporary music as a quartet.
The structure of In Speak features a main energetic and hocketing-like thread derivedfrom the quartet members' names and initials. It reoccurs throughout, linking the various sections of choreographed sounds. Also, each member is highlighted at various moments with their own short evolving musical signatures. The use of voice is not intended to be theatrical but rather an extension of the players' instruments. McDonald's poem, when spoken, is deliberately almost indiscernible. The focus lies with the articulation of words, their slight intoned shifts blending with the articulations of the bow; short whispered syllables become extensions of rhythmic pizzicati, and intoned vowels mix with the instrumental sound to suggest a microtonal haze.
Thank you Arditti String Quartet and Happy 50th Jubilee!
You are invited to read "Octopus Rehearsal" here: https://www.ballastjournal.com/matthew-mcdonald
Work Details
Year: 2024
Instrumentation: Strings, musicians' voices.
Duration: 17 min.
Written for: Arditti Quartet
Commission note: Commissioned by Arditti Quartet with funds provided by Creative Australia.. In Speak was written for and commissioned by the Arditti Quartet on the occasion on their 50th Jubilee and is dedicated to them. With financial support from Creative Australia.
First performance: by Arditti Quartet — 7 Mar 24. Boulez Saal, Berlin
Performances of this work
17 Oct 24: Philharmonie de Paris - Cité de la musique. Featuring Arditti Quartet.
7 Mar 24: Boulez Saal, Berlin. Featuring Arditti Quartet.
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