Robert Carl

2 violins, viola, cello, double bass

This quintet evokes the play of the wind over a seascape. The work consists of an alternation between two types of music. First, there are a series of sixteen chorales played by the entire ensemble, evenly interspersed throughout. At times they are homophonic, at others their texture is "animated", but they always project a sense of concerted motion. They begin with a very bare octave sound, rooted on a low F. Over time, they become increasingly rich, using overtone relations as a model for their content and voicing. They cycle through a series of fundamentals, themselves derived from the series of partials off F, ultimately returning to that home "key". Second, there are free passages between the chorales. These move through every possible combination of the ensemble---solos, duos, trios, quartets, and quintet. They are far more contrapuntal, fantastic, and often racing. I think of the alternation of these two elements as a classical colonnade, through which the wind is whipping. Finally, all these sections group into larger units corresponding to the course of a day: dusk/night/dawn/day. There should be a progression on all levels toward ever greater radiance. ---Robert Carl