Orchestration for the String Quartet Research-Creation Project Report
Orchestration for the String Quartet
A Research-Creation Project by the ACTOR Project and Quatuor Bozzini
Participants
Composers: Marilou Buron (McGill University), Chelsea Komschlies (McGill University), Miko Sabatino (Université de Montréal), Showan Tavakol (Université de Montréal)
Faculty mentors: Robert Hasegawa (McGill University), Jimmie LeBlanc (Université de Montréal)
Performers: Quatuor Bozzini: Alissa Cheung and Clemens Merkel, violins; Stéphanie Bozzini, viola; Isabelle Bozzini, cello
Summary
ACTOR’s research-creation project with the Quatuor Bozzini focused on orchestration strategies for the string quartet. Two graduate composers from McGill University and two from the Université de Montréal worked with the string quartet in two different workshops.
Orchestration for the string quartet
As an ensemble of four instruments from the same family, the quartet has an exceptional capacity for blending but can also sharply differentiate the timbres of its members when desired. As an unconducted ensemble, the string quartet depends on close non-verbal communication between its members, and quartet members are accustomed to making subtle variations in their playing to achieve timbral and orchestrational ends. The purpose of this project is to explore how composers can orchestrate for the string quartet, examining strategies for timbral blend, stratification, modulation, and contrast.
Research Questions
What kinds of orchestral textures and gestures are possible within the fixed instrumentation of the quartet?
What notational strategies are most effective for communicating ideas about timbres and their combinations?
What specific performance techniques and adjustments support the emergence of new timbral and orchestrational effects?
Project Timeline
First reading session March 22-24, 2021
Composers presented first drafts, études, and sketches of their work. All the composers spent time with the musicians going through the sketches and trying out new techniques and notations. An interview followed the first meeting in which composers were asked to talk in detail about their expectations concerning their initial musical ideas prior to the rehearsal process and what they noticed once they heard their sketches for the first time.
Second reading session December 1-2, 2021
The second session focused on almost completed drafts, after the composers had time to revise and expand on their initial ideas. This session also focused on notational issues and best practices. After the second reading, the composers were interviewed again regarding the elaboration of their musical ideas following the first reading.
Final rehearsals and concert September 21-23, 2022
Compositions
Amas d’air - Marilou Buron
Amas d’air met en musique les transformations reliées aux états de l’air et de l’eau. Depuis quelque temps, je m’intéresse aux moyens de musicaliser une idée grâce aux anaphones musicaux. Ma pièce s’étale en quatre mouvements basés sur le flottement. Le premier mouvement, Nuages et orages, explore un son classique et riche, entremêlé de passages flottants et libres. Le deuxième mouvement, Pluie, se concentre sur le rythme et intègre des mélodies et des rythmes jazz. Le troisième mouvement, Condensation, représente un brouillard instable composé de quarts de tons, et oscillant entre des croches swings et égales. Le dernier mouvement, Évaporation, a un caractère mystérieux, flottant et brumeux. Une particule d’eau peut passer à travers tout un cycle de transformation, mais gardera toujours ses propriétés. Laissez-vous transporter telle une goutte d’eau à travers ce parcours auditif!
Hypnofloria- Chelsea Komschlies
A sonic evocation of a recurring childhood daydream: an endlessly deep, dark forest filled with phantasmic foliage that seems painted onto the void, not quite real. I’ve used timbres and harmonies that feel dark, wet, and tinged with blues, raspberries, and violets to evoke the dreamy foliage. The music is as much an exploration of the strangeness of the half-conscious daydreaming mind as it is an evocation of this visual world.
Quatuor à cordes no. 1 - Miko Sabatino
La conception de cette pièce trouve son origine dans le désir d’explorer les ressources timbriques du quatuor à cordes. Chacune des trois pièces exploite un ensemble distinct de timbres et une manière nouvelle d’articuler le temps. Les «gestes orchestraux» dessinent l’identité thématique des motifs et dirigent le déroulement musicale.
Kereshmeh - Showan Tavakol
Ce que j’ai fait comme idée principale pour fournir les matériaux de cette pièce, repose sur la conception de différents espaces de division non-relié à l’octave à partir d’intervalles spécifiques de la musique iranienne.