Ross Bauer

Violin, Viola, Cello, and Piano

Composer's Note:
My Piano Quartet, written during the summer of 2004, was commissioned by the Stony Brook Contemporary Chamber Players and is dedicated to them.
Divided into three contrasting movements, and lasting about fourteen minutes, the piece tends toward a sparer texture than much of my other music. The first movement, in a moderately fast 12/8 meter, features clear-cut dialogues between the strings, often treated as a group, and the piano. One or the other tends to dominate much of the time. An exception is a fairly extensive passage about two thirds of the way through where the strings play lyrical contrapuntal music while the piano, more often than not going its own way, plays loud percussive chords. Near the end of the movement, an uneasy balance is finally established.
The second movement is quite soft, slow, and suspended. Beginning with an extensive duo between muted violin and cello, it proceeds to a lengthy unaccompanied piano solo. The rest of the movement gradually shortens the length of the piano and string trio's utterances until they end by exchanging two, then one measure phrases. The movement remains inward and restrained throughout.
The third movement, the most overtly jazzy of the three, features more rapid dialoguing between strings and piano -- both in octaves much of the time. After an extensive climax and a substantial discharging of its energy, the piece comes to a close with a truncated version of the octave dialoguing from the opening of the movement.