Boosey & Hawkes
My first String Quartet is constructed like a triptych, consisting of three parts, entitled 'Prelude', 'Transformations' and 'Postlude'. As with all my recent works, it is based on a
single triad, with its perpetual reflections and transpositions.
In 'Prelude' the players introduce themselves individually in a kind of conversation, making their own statements about the subject which will appear later in 'Transformations'. In this introduction, written senza misura, each player performs his solo independently, always with his 'own' characteristic expression, dynamics and sound colour, as one would find in different people's speaking voices.
Whereas the 'Prelude' consists of just one horizontal line taken up successively by each instrument, 'Transformations' is played throughout by the whole quartet, always with a pulse of four in a bar, in a slow tempo. Here the vertical sound is used to emphasise the element of lyrical expression. This main, central movement has a symmetrical structure and consists of five sections: the middle one based on the same triad as 'Prelude' and 'Postlude', but each of the other four based on slightly modified, transformed triads - hence the name of the movement 'Transformations'. This title however indicates more than a mere technical device: in my imagination the 'Transformations' evolve like a piece of sculpture lit consecutively with five different colours which also cast different depths of shadow. At the beginning the image is still somewhat out of focus but, as the music advances, the delineation gradually becomes clearer, so that, at the end, the image emerges with full clarity, warmth and strength.
'Postlude' follows 'Transformations' without any break, taking up the 'conversation' from 'Prelude'; but instead of short statements one after the other, in 'Postlude' they lose their individuality, together building up from a whisper through to animated discussion even with some conflicts. Eventually, however, they reach unison.
Andrzej Panufnik
Reproduction Rights
This programme note can be reproduced free of charge in concert programmes with a credit to the composer