New Notes Premieres

Excerpts from premieres of string quartets by Rhona Clarke and Gráinne Mulvey, performed by the ConTempo Quartet on 19 March 2009 at the Solstice Arts Centre, Navan, Co. Meath as part of the New Notes project, a collaboration between CMC and Galway Ensemble-in-Residence.

Rhona Clarke and Gráinne Mulvey were commissioned as part of CMC and Galway Ensemble-in-Residence's joint project, New Notes, to each write a string quartet for the ConTempo Quartet. Following a series of workshops with the quartet and the composers, the works were premiered on 19 March 2009 at the Solstice Arts Centre, Navan.

Rhona Clarke's piece, Pas de Quatre, was accompanied by visuals by artist Marie Hanlon. The composer says of the work: 'I was interested in producing a piece which emphasises the communication and energy between the members of the quartet. Each fast section contains a paragraph of segments repeated in canonic fashion by the musicians. The coincidence and number of repetitions of these segments are, to a certain extent, ad. lib. and the material is based on a scale and theme heard early in the piece.'

Gráinne Mulvey's Entropy is inspired by scientific theory: 'Entropy represents chaotic states—stable and unstable. For example, a stable state might represent a block of ice which when unstable, turns to liquid and eventually to steam. My piece attempts to evoke these states—the opening is noise-based and diffuse in certain sections.  Small motifs coalesce to form larger phrases and eventually the material becomes pitch-based. The source of material comes from the harmonic series based on the fundamental D and there are eight sections forming one movement.'

Both composers' works were performed by the ConTempo Quartet alongside works by Jennifer Walshe andJane O'Leary. The concert also toured to Roscommon Arts Centre on 20 March 2009 and the Kenny Gallery, Galway on 21 March 2009.

New Notes is funded by the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon under the Projects: New Work award.

The views expressed in this video are those of the persons concerned and are not necessarily the views of the Contemporary Music Centre.