String Quartet No. 1 (1999)

String Quartet No. 1 is a single-movement work of approximately twenty-one minutes duration. Within it there are suggestions of an underlying three-movement (fast-slow-fast) structure that is preceded by an introduction. Deeper within this implied structure there are five primary musical ideas, which recur throughout the piece in a variety of forms and contexts. The quartet is thus “classical” in spirit, that is to say essentially concerned with form. It is also, however, suffused with colouristic and textural variations of motives, and contrasts between the driving rhythms of the opening and closing sections and the long, slow central section. The quartet was composed in France and Canada between August and September of 1999. It was written for and dedicated to the Cuarteto Latinoamericano, who gave the world premier performance in Winnipeg on October 24, 1999.

The performers were: Saúl Bitrán, violin, Arón Bitrán, violin, Javier Montiel, viola, Alvaro Bitrán, cello

James Manishen — Winnipeg Free Press, February 5, 2002