NOTES ABOUT QUADRANTS [Vol. 2]

With QUADRANTS, Navona Records shines a spotlight on the modern string quartet — melding old with new, combining traditional forms with contemporary influences, and presenting expressive, emotional works that both make and break the mold.

QUADRANTS Vol 2, performed by Boston’s acclaimed Pedroia String Quartet, features compositions by Paul Osterfield, David T. Bridges, Fred DeSena, L Peter Deutsch, Katherine Price, and Marvin Lamb.  Discover how each composer reveals utterly different, yet intrinsically beautiful sound from this most traditional instrumentation.

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The name “Departure,” and the titles of the four movements, refer both to my finishing my graduate study in music and to my faint memory of a transatlantic ocean voyage when I was 7.  The movements try to capture the moods of the process: “Anticipation” (anxiety), “Preparation” (diligent activity), “Leave-taking” (sadness), and “Setting Sail” (excitement). Each movement has a deliberately different formal structure and sound texture -- dissonant and episodic (“Anticipation”), a formal sonata-allegro form with active use of pizzicato (“Preparation”), a motet with modal harmony (“Leave-taking,” which was written with a complete text underlay of “O vos omnes”), and a rondo with a coda (“Setting Sail”) -- and my hope is that the listener will find beauty in many of them. — L Peter Deutsch