String Quartet No.1 - 'Idioglossia'
Richard Horner
About this work:
This piece is atonal, amelodic and ametrical. The sound material is derived mostly from Wolfgang Rihm, Iannis Xenakis and Anton Webern and molded into a Sonata-Allegro form. The score is written with a constant tempo of quarter note equals 60 beats per minute with no ritards, accelerandos, fermatas, etcetera so that it reads more as a time strip than a series of metric inflections.
The first theme group starts at measure one. The opening figure is dodecaphonic but the concept of tone row has no role in this piece and no matrix was constructed nor were any row forms implemented. Following that opening gesture, the first theme group is further expanded presenting various registral, timbral, and metric gestures as well as a few simultaneities. These combined with the few distinguishable intervallic relations lay the foundation for much of the piece.
The second theme group is more complicated. At rehearsal letter A (m.15), there are a series of glissandi up and then back down. These glissandi were planned using a pitch units versus time graph (see attached graph) that employed lines whose slopes were all powers of the golden ratio (approximately .618). In the upward glissandi starting in measure 15, the result of using equal tempered intervals as the pitch units is heard. The descending glissandi are using hertz as the pitch units. Since any two high notes are more hertz apart than their pitch class equivalents in lower octaves (see chart below), traversing equal hertz spaces in different registers results in each traversal covering a different number of equal tempered interval steps. In these descending glissandi, the first violin and the viola’s lines both traverse one amount of hertz while the second violin and the cello’s lines both traverse a second amount of hertz. Once again, these amounts are proportioned to each other by the golden ratio. The result of this is an organized and uniform distribution whose construction may not be apparent but whose aural effect is easily retainable and identifiable by the listener. This is due, in no small part, to the fact that the glissandi seem, to the listener, to progress more slowly in the higher registers and more quickly in the lower registers.
The development section begins at rehearsal letter B (m.35) and consists of developments of the prior thematic material, combinations of elements from both theme groups and both sparse and dense timbral effects. A “normal” instance of arco ordinario sustained simultaneities does not occur until almost the 4 minute mark at rehearsal letter D (m. 69). Close inspection will show that these simultaneities are an augmentation derived from the initial dodecaphonic figure. The entire 12-count does not appear until rehearsal letter E (m.82) though, to signal the beginning of the recapitulation.
At rehearsal letter G (m.101) is seen a return of the glissandi in the form of a fugue. This canonic thematic manipulation is only appropriate after the listener has experienced the initial theme group presentation at rehearsal letter B. Previously, the switching of the pitch units from equal tempered intervals to hertz yielded a system of non-linear (logarithmic) pitch continuums (see chart). Now that the listener has a sense of these nature dictated sonic effects being employed, they can now be manipulated as conventional musical material is. This is necessary to get the inverse pitch contour of the logarithmic glissandi because merely playing them backwards would not change their shape since they are linear glissandi in a logarithmic space. Here I used parabolic functions to generate the approximate notation of these figures in equal temperament.
Finally, at rehearsal letter H (m.162), is a coda which just recounts the opening gesture to bring the piece to a close.
It should be noted that this piece is actually a reduction of a larger conceptualization. I had mentioned my approximately 17 minute conceptualization of a string quartet to Stephen Croes, the Dean of the Music Technology Division at Berklee College of Music. Being familiar with some of my past work, he was excited about it. Subsequently, when Berklee was looking to have a recording session in New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall with the Esterhazy String Quartet, Stephen told me that he would make it a condition that my string quartet be scheduled for recording on that session in order for his department to put funding towards it. I then had a week to write the piece down and make the parts. It was at this point in time that I was asked if I could possibly shorten the piece to ensure a better performance in light of the piece’s unconventional language. I condensed it down as much as I possibly could to just over 7 minutes.
Year composed: 2004
Duration: 00:07:10
Ensemble type: Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice:Unknown
Instrumentation: 2 Violin, 1 Viola, 1 Cello
Instrumentation notes: String Quartet