String Quartet No. 2: In Flames

Composed for the Mivos Quartet, In Flames recasts traditional string quartet form and syntax with 21st-century vernacular. Informed by harmonic and rhythmic idioms drawn from a variety of sources – including film music, Greek dance, and progressive metal – this piece propels the listener through a loosely literary narrative structure, its implacable stream of sound demanding a visceral involvement from both performer and listener. The particular focus in this work is exploiting the syntactical properties of traditional narrative form (as found in fiction literature and cinema) and applying them in the context of abstract instrumental music. More personally, In Flames is a meditation on the shifting tensions of inter-personal relationships.