String quartet (2 violins, viola and violoncello) - Grade 4-5

SKU: ET.QC17

Composed by Julien-Francois Zbinden. Contemporary. Score and parts. Editions BIM #QC17. Published by Editions BIM (ET.QC17).

ISBN 9790207024671.

The Quatuor No. 1 op. 60, of limited duration, as well as the short piece Alligun, are perhaps the inspirational source that motivated me, late in life, to undertake the composition of an important string quartet, requiring that I once again confront the perennial challenge of that instrumental setting.
The 25 minute work consists of four very diverse and contrasting movements.
The first – Lento - Allegro - opens with a slow and mysterious introduction followed by a joyful rhythmic episode, while the second – Scherzando molto vivo – is simply virtuosic game-playing, with the four bows flying around freely.
The third – Adagio – is very dramatic, slowly evolving into a mood of meditation and tenderness.
The last movement – Allegrissimo – is an homage to contrapuntal style and requires great virtuosity on the part of the performers.
The first performance was given March 6 2012 by the string quartet, Sine Nomine (the dedicacee), at the Théâtre de l’Octogone in Pully (Lausanne), Switzerland.
Julien-François Zbinden, august 2011, Lausanne, Switzerland.