Imperfect Fourth (2004)
17 minutes
for Guitar and String Quartet
Commissioned by the Zephyr Quartet
First performance by Aleksandr Tsiboulski (guitar) and the Zephyr Quartet on August 12th 2004 at The Jade Monkey, Adelaide.
Imperfect Fourth is included on my 2022 album, released through ABC Classic. Discover more and purchase the CD through Bandcamp.
17 minutes
for Guitar and String Quartet
Commissioned by the Zephyr Quartet
First performance by Aleksandr Tsiboulski (guitar) and the Zephyr Quartet on August 12th 2004 at The Jade Monkey, Adelaide.
Imperfect Fourth is included on my 2022 album, released through ABC Classic. Discover more and purchase the CD through Bandcamp.
The title of this work comes from the prominence of Perfect Fourth intervals in each movement, and the regular tuning of the guitar - E A D G B E, where all but the G and B strings are tuned a Perfect Fourth apart. Each of the three movements aimto feature the guitar equally as both soloist and ensemble member.
The first movement is a highly charged, rhythmical work, full of exuberant riffs contrasting with passages of lyrical beauty. The second movement is the emotional core of the work, with long, sweeping string melodies and an extended poetic guitar solo that tends a creative nod to Joaquin Rodrigo's Guitar Concerto de Aranjuez. The third movement again leans towards the more energetic, building rhythmically driven melodic phrases upon an incessant, driven guitar ostinato that forms the compositional basis for the work.
Anne Cawrse © 2004
The first movement is a highly charged, rhythmical work, full of exuberant riffs contrasting with passages of lyrical beauty. The second movement is the emotional core of the work, with long, sweeping string melodies and an extended poetic guitar solo that tends a creative nod to Joaquin Rodrigo's Guitar Concerto de Aranjuez. The third movement again leans towards the more energetic, building rhythmically driven melodic phrases upon an incessant, driven guitar ostinato that forms the compositional basis for the work.
Anne Cawrse © 2004
REVIEWS
"The other work combining guitar and strings, is Imperfect Fourth, which is, ironically, the oldest of the album’s pieces, written as it was in 2004. But it highlights how much Cawrse’s voice is already established, for it is unmistakably her with its modal gravitation and her clever use of rhythm. The guitar playing by Alexandr Tsiboulski, who assisted Cawrse navigate writing for the instrument, is superb, and particularly evocative in the Adagio and Con Anima. Loving a good slow movement as I do, the considered introduction of strings and the gorgeous melody performed superbly by violinist Cameron Hill, is as intoxicating as Cawrse’s later works. But so is the upbeat and technically demanding Con Anima which is fabulously written and executed. I know the composer loves setting texts, but I am particularly enamoured with the meaning she creates sans texts. Perhaps that’s because it’s just her, and I ‘get’ her through these pieces."
-Mandy Stefanakis, for Loudmouth, Music Trust
-Mandy Stefanakis, for Loudmouth, Music Trust