Metamorphoses on a Machaut Kyrie
Karen P. Thomas
About this work:
"Metamorphoses on a Machaut Kyrie" for string quartet is based upon the second Kyrie of Le Messe do Nostre Dame by Guilluame de Machaut (1300-1377). The Kyrie itself forms the middle movement of the Metamorphoses. The four surrounding movements use motivic, structural, rhythmic and harmonic ideas from the Kyrie, transformed into a language which is unlike that of Machaut. For example, the first movement uses as its harmonic basis a skeletal form of the tenor voice from the Kyrie, and incorporates open fifths which evoke the sounds of early Medieval polyphony. The fourth movement includes retrograde statements of the two upper voices of the Kyrie, but with altered rhythms. The second and fifth movements use a more free compositional procedure and include actual quotations from the Kyrie.
Metamorphoses on a Machaut Kyrie exists in versions for string quartet and string orchestra. It has been performed by the Contemporary Group String Quartet and the Washington Composers Forum. It has also been performed, in its alternate version for string orchestra, by the Eastside Chamber Orchestra and by the Northwest Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Alun Francis. In 1984 the work was awarded the Northwest Chamber Orchestra's Composers Forum award, winning a place in that organization's permanent repertoire.
Version: 2 vln, vla, vc
Year composed: 1984
Duration: 00:13:00
Ensemble type: Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice:String Quartet
Instrumentation: 2 Violin, 1 Viola, 1 Cello
Instrumentation notes: 2 vln, vla, vc