Shibboleths
String Quartet
2015 – 10’
$23.99
On June 25th, 2014 I attended the launch party for WQXR’s 'Meet The Composer' radio program at WNYC’s Greene Space in Tribeca neighborhood of New York City. The party included “a star-studded array of dynamic, award-winning performers” and composers of the new music world. One of the pieces that night was by composer Andrew Norman. His string quartet, Peculiar Strokes, was performed by the Attaca Quartet and is “an open-ended collection of miniatures, each of which explores a particular, peculiar bow stroke. Movements from the set can be extracted, mixed, and matched in any order.” Listening to the work, I was intrigued by the idea of very short movements that could stand on their own individually, but also could make up a larger collection of music if performed together. When I was commissioned by the NextNow Fest in 2015 to compose a piece for the Invoke Quartet, I immediately thought of the idea behind Andrew Norman’s piece.
Shibboleths premiered at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in College Park, Maryland on September 11, 2015 by the Invoke Quartet. The word ‘shibboleth’ in Hebrew means “stream” but the meaning has since been broadened and it is now dened in English as “a word or saying used by adherents of a party, sect, or belief” or “a widely held belief” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary).
Available as a 9x12 score with parts. Digital download available soon.
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