String Quartet
String Quartet (2025) covers a wide range of introspection on the subject of love.
I.
The first movement, Invocation to St. Maximilian Kolbe, recalls the story of St. Maximilian Kolbe and his self-sacrifice at Auschwitz in 1941, during which he gave his life to set a man free to return to his family - a true act of sacrificing the self for the good of the other.
II.
The second movement is loosely based on the painting of the same name by van Gogh, in which a child is seen yearning for her father's arms.
III.
In Grace, a steady stream of pulse overcomes the quartet. This movement is palindromic and serves as the thematic entry point into the work as a whole.
IV.
Over the Town is loosely based on the painting of the same name by Marc Chagall, in which the painter and his wife are seen soaring over their hometown.
V.
Revocation of Grace is a reflection on acts of hate and malice, those acts in which the other is sacrificed for the self.
- Ensemble
- string quartet
- Duration
- c. 30 minutes
- Year
- 2025
Movements
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First Steps, After Millet
VInvent van Gogh, 1890 • Oil on canvas
First Steps, After Millet shows a small child taking their first steps from mother to father, based on an earlier work by Jean-François Millet. Using bright colors and bold brushstrokes, Van Gogh adds his own feeling and energy to the scene, turning a simple family moment into a symbol of love, hope, and new beginnings.
Over the Town
Marc Chagall, 1918 • Oil on canvas
Over the Town shows Chagall and his wife, Bella Rosenfeld Chagall, flying above Vitebsk, the town where he grew up. Chagall is holding his wife close as she waives one hand open through the air.