Trakl-Pictures for String Quartet (2013)
Duration: c. 14 minutes
The four unequal movements of this string quartet are snapshots from the lurid poetry of Austrian Expressionist Georg Trakl.
The first two movements are fragments; question marks. The first is a slow swirl of uncertainty, the second a warped descent. The third movement is fast, and obsesses over hard scraps of theme with the gears constantly shifting. The fourth movement is a numbed night-vision which looks up at a cold sky and sees the rest of the piece disappear out of sight.
Commissioned by Carriageworks
First performance: 17 August 2013, Carriageworks, Sydney by the JACK Quartet
JACK SYMONDS 