String Quartet No. 3 - Terra Incognita

Composer's Note:

Terra Incognita is my monolithic treatise in harmony, counterpoint and structure. It was slowly composed over the course of five years. The contrapuntal lines of "Observing Organisms" grow directly out of the harmonies in "Fossil Formations." The note spellings are conceived as integral to the investigation of voice leading and harmonic possibility. In its original conception, this music was written as my third string quartet, and fashioned into two movements that are respectively slow and fast. However, Terra Incognita’s formal structure and texture allow it to function as an open score, as well. It can be performed by string orchestra, chorus, band, or any ensemble that can cover the parts. Solo polyphonic instruments, like organ or piano, may perform from the keyboard part from the version of "Fossil Formations" with the “continuo” style harmonic analysis, either in concert with an ensemble, or alone. To accommodate multiple performance contexts, the repeated phrases may be played more than twice to elongate the work, or eliminated entirely to present a shorter, 25 minute work. Rather than providing numerous detailed performance directions, I believe the movement titles are sufficient for the imagination. "Observing Organisms" ossia: unmanageable double-stops may be substituted with a pattern of alternating 1/8th notes, derived from the double-stop, starting on the lower of the note pair. 1/16th rests are omitted for legibility.

Terra Incognita is dedicated to my son Mason Reid Welch-Lueck.