String Quartet No.2

Strange animals float chaotically between heaven and earth, between gravity and free-dom, in the power of bizarre, unharnessed force fields.

Three movements, one transitioning to the next, with the string quartet as a percussion instrument of sorts. Changes of metre, rapidity, counter-argument, consistency, densification, structure, oscillating glissandi, homophonic, violent, viola solo, cello solo, formation of groups, groping, calm and intimate, slowly rising, glissando figure, hardly interacting, sigh, four instruments, heightened intensity, energetic, percussive, a moody solo, lots of pizzicato, obsessive, high D, altered reminiscences, repetition, first violin, idling, acceleration, an abrupt ending. An inflated balloon losing air.

"The tempest raged around me and my thrashing little craft, gusting wildly beneath the stars, which it seemed to set a-shuddering." — Jean Paul, Des Luftschiffers Giannozzo Seebuch