String Quartet No. 2 (2023)
Duration ca. 18'
2vn, va, vc
I. Majesty of the mountains, waters, & skies
II. The Wooded Network
III. The Three Sisters
IV. Hope for the Earth
Commissioned by the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music for the Dalí Quartet through the Composing Earth commissioning program
Live Recording
Program Note
“Listen to the Land” for string quartet came about from the fortunate opportunity to participate in the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music Composing Earth commissioning program. The program is for “Academy alumni who recognize that climate change - climate disruption - is a bona fide civilizational emergency” (www.glfcam.com). Indeed, this climate disruption is an emergency and has been for some time.
From my participation and from observations of our climate and world, with the titles of the piece and its movements, I decided to draw attention to the fact that the land communicates to us, or that we can read the land to learn how to live more harmoniously with it. It is my firm belief that we have abused the land, and it is also my firm belief that we can live on this planet in a way that it is beneficial and harmonious for us and Sister Mother Earth.
The music itself is an impression of the titles and not literal programmatic writing. It is inspired, then - as music often does - develops a life of its own because of the initial idea.
I: “The majesty of the mountains, waters, & skies”
Initially, I had the sonic imagining of strong mighty chords representing colossal mountain ranges and the glacial movement of tectonic plates. Then echoes of the lyricism from my previous quartet crept in, which in that piece represented the vastness of the sky, and so it is in this movement. Also, the fact that this movement is more fluid in ideas than the initial inspiration gives way to the waters. The mountains, waters, and skies all exist, move, and interact in natural ways and naturally provide habitable environments in which we humans can live. They also provide environments that are difficult or impossible in which to live, and sometimes we alter the environment so much that it damages and harms. Why don’t we work better with what the land already provides?
II: “The Wooded Network”
Trees are amazing. What is also incredible is the fact that through fungal networks, they communicate with each other. We learn that trees “look out” and “care” for one another by alerting each other of danger via chemicals, or that families of trees nurture their young by sharing nutrients, and that even tree stumps are still taken care of long after we have considered them “dead”. The music in this movement dances and playfully interacts along with some nods to wooden sounds.
III: “The Three Sisters”
Another intriguing aspect of plant interaction is the agricultural practice known as “The Three Sisters” planting method of planting squash, maize, and beans together; it was practiced throughout Mesoamerica and North American for thousands of years before the incursion of European settlers. These plants are grown in a “mutually beneficial arrangement” and "work better together than when grown alone, creating a self-sustaining ecosystem that nourishes the soil and produces abundant yields." (www.nps.gov) The music in these movements is lyrical and begins with three interactive lines, mutually supporting one other. There is a tinge of melancholy in the music though, reflecting the fact that some of us today have lost more harmonious ways of allowing nature and plants to thrive in ways that are mutually beneficial to us and the environment.
IV. “Hope for the Earth”
The final movement of this quartet yields to hope of a better way of existing with the Earth. Can our societies change course and come from the brink of living on an Earth that will become partly inhabitable? Or have we truly passed points of no return? It is true that some things may never return to the way they were, but will we have some future where we can thrive in harmony with the Earth? I truly hope so and we must never give up on possibilities of goodness. The music in this movement speaks to this as a hymn represents this hope.
“Listen to the Land” for string quartet was commissioned by the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music for the Dalí Quartet through the Composing Earth commissioning program.
- Gilbert Galindo, September 2023
World Premiere: Tuesday, November 7, 2023
Friends of Chamber Music: Dalí Quartet, “Classical Roots. Latin Soul.”
Dalí String Quartet
Patricia Reser Center for the Arts, Beaverton, OR