string quartet no. 2

arr. for String Orchestra

Duration ca. 15' (2010)
vl/vla/cel/cb

View Score for String Quartet

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Premiered by the String Orchestra of New York City, St. Peter’s Church, New York, NY: October 16, 2011.

Other performances: String Orchestra of New York City, NY, November 4, 2011; September 18, 2011.

It’s easy to see why the [Naxos] label places so much faith in the composer, born in 1973. The four works in this installment all reveal a great ear for fresh sonorities... the 2008 String Quartet #2 nicknamed the Edelman...with its suggestions of Hebrew chant, offers a solid response to the great heritage of the string quartet form.
—Lawson Taitte, Dallas Morning News, June 2012

PROGRAM NOTE

I was commissioned to compose my second string quartet by the children, family and friends of Dr. and Mrs. Robert Edelman, of Baltimore, in honor of their 50th wedding anniversary. Knowing the Edelmans personally for many years, I consciously constructed the melodic and structural aspects of the music to reflect their character. The principle motive of the first movement is a fragment of a melody that Dr. Edelman sings every Friday night to welcome the Sabbath. This motive, introduced by the violins in the opening measures, gains momentum until a climax at the center of the movement, after which the movement fades back to silence. The second movement, “Flowing,” is in ternary (A-B-A) form. The A section is a simple, rich and melodic song – reflecting Mrs. Edelman’s warm and caring personality. The final movement is full of kinetic energy and motion, concluding the composition with an upbeat and vivacious ending, also an allusion to the Edelman’s very positive attitude on life. The quartet was premiered on July 6, 2008 by Ivan Stefanovic, Greg Mulligan, Christian Colberg and Ilya Finkelshteyn at a private reception in honor of the Edelman’s 50th wedding anniversary The Carpe Diem String Quartet has recently recorded this quartet for a Naxos CD of Leshnoff’s chamber music.