Neverlands

In this string quartet—my third and longest—I wanted to evoke places that have been the subject of human fantasy, but which we can never visit. The piece charts a course through these “Neverlands,” comprising mythological places (II-III), the bad and good afterlives (V-VI), fictional dystopias (VIII-IX), and the roads between them (I, IV, & VII). Movement X depicts the homeward trek that brings every journey back to its point of departure.

Details

  • For string quartet
  • Category: Chamber Ensemble
  • Year Composed: 2025
  • Duration: 25'
  • Commissioner: Sheffield Chamber Players, with support from the Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Program
  • Tags: Literature, Mortality, Mythology
  • Movements:
    • I. Otherlands Pilgrimage
    • II. Sirenum Scopuli (Land of Siren Song)
    • III. Asgard (Land of Aerial Architecture)
    • IV. Underlands Pilgrimage
    • V. Inferno (Land of Infinite Ire)
    • VI. Elysium (Land of Eternal Embrace)
    • VII. Overlands Pilgrimage
    • VIII. Animalia (Land of Authoritarian Animals)
    • IX. Mechanopolis (Land of Machine Mutiny)
    • X. Homelands Pilgrimage