Quadruple Quartet: For a Chamber Orchestra of 16 Players

Abstract

Quadruple Quartet is a four-movement work scored for 16 players, four from each of the four instrumental families of the orchestra (i.e. woodwinds, brass, strings, percussion). This unique instrumentation utilizes a minimal number of musicians to create an orchestral sound, in which the distinct timbres of the orchestra are represented by one player per instrument (with certain individual players taking on conventional doublings, i.e. flute/piccolo). Each movement is self- contained, pursuing its own motivic ends through novel contrapuntal techniques, and is titled according to a salient trait. I. Contrapunctus is a fugue, whose expressive freedom lies paradoxically in its rigidity; II. Collage generates complexity through an increasing density of cycling layers, variously superimposed; III. Dovetail features a medley of widely-voiced tone-clusters arranged in overlapping threads of melody traded in a variety of timbral colors; IV. Ricochet makes playful, thematic use of a "rebounding" staccato motive.