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Programme Note

Composer Note:

I composed the four short movements of my String Quartet in Santa Fe, New Mexico and Halifax, Nova Scotia. The piece was written in a very short period of time, two of the movements within the span of a few days, yet in many ways it is the most detailed of my works. It was inspired by the weather patterns I observed one day gazing out the window – an entire day, I might add, when I was expected to be working. Abandoning a work schedule for looking out the window was in itself liberating; what I experienced beyond that was an unfolding of patterns in an unceasing display of light and movement. In a place like New Mexico, you can see the weather coming towards you; suddenly you are in it and just as quickly, it has moved on.

The first three pieces are about different kinds of “weather,” their atmosphere and energy. The last piece is the moment after: open sky.

—Peter Lieberson