City Walks

for string quartet

Composed in the first half of 2009, City Walks is a 12-minute piece for string quartet in one movement.  It was premiered by the Eidolon Quartet in Berkeley, California in May, 2009 and performed again by members of the Magik*Magik Orchestra as part of the You Are Hear festival at San Francisco International Airport in June, 2010.

The recorded excerpts provided to the right are from the premiere performance.   The players are:  Franklyn D’Antonio, violin I; Noah Strick, violin II; Clare Twohy, viola; Gianna Abondolo, cello.

Video Excerpt

Here is part of City Walks as performed by members of the Magik*Magik Orchestra at the San Francisco Airport’s You Are Hear festival in June, 2010.

Thumb Through the Score

Clicking below will launch a full screen view of the score with audio. Please contact me for a hard-copy perusal score or a set of parts. (Sorry; this won’t work on an iPad.)

Program Note

I began composing City Walks at the end of 2008 after finding a few pages of music for string quartet deep in the caverns of my computer’s file system.  I had absolutely no recollection of composing this, and if it weren’t for the date stamp on the computer file, I would have no idea when it was from.  (It was 2004.)  I was also so surprised by how well written it was that I doubted at first that it was my own work!  So using this music, which ultimately became the second theme, marked “Andante Affabile” in the score, I set out to come up with a set of ideas that would contrast and complement this.

At a certain point in the composing process, it began to occur to me that, although this is a one-movement piece, it keeps moving and picking up new material as if it were in several movements, yet it still carries elements of what’s been heard earlier as it progresses.  A contemplative, almost cantorial cello solo at the beginning gives way to a lyrical, sauntering theme.  A tender little melody crosses the threshold into melodrama.  A macabre dance unfolds into a facetious extended coda.

The title “City Walks” came about because the form of the piece started to remind me of a linear walk through some city, where the environment changes as you move through various neighborhoods, yet you somehow know you’re still in the same place. The street signs are all brown, say, and there’s a lovely Craftsman typeface on all the public buildings, yet each neighborhood has its own distinct feel.