Update Title: 763B446B-5D0E-441B-A6E3-3F83696D6B47

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Four Movements follows the classical quartet form: the first and last movements are in sonata form; the second movement is a scherzo; and the third is an introspective slow movement. The structural basis for the entire piece comes from a motivic cell of a half-step (e to f) heard in the opening measures. In the development of the first movement this motivic cell is expanded, transposed, and superimposed upon itself. At the end of the first movement tension is both created and resolved by quarter-tone inflections surrounding the final b-flat.

In the second movement the half-step motive is extended to a whole step (a-natural to b-natural) as a perpetual-motion background in the orchestra as the solo quartet intones a folk melody. The violin solo that emerges in the middle section evokes an anguished gypsy-like lament. The third movement ("Funebre") was written in memory of the composer's father and was inspired by Act 3 of Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde (Tristan's lament, "Die alte Weise," Act 3, Scene 1). The Persian melodies in the solo violins, which symbolize wailing over the death of the beloved, are superimposed on Tristan harmonies throughout the movement. Persian and Western metaphors of love and death are intermingled in a pluralistic musical symbolism.

In the finale, the motivic cell is expanded to include a third note (e-f-g); themes from the previous movements reappear in juxtaposition in the development section. In the coda, solo quartet and orchestra strings ascend to their highest register, converging on an agitated unison 'f' before the conclusion on the note 'e' which restores, in retrograde, the basic cell 'e-f.'

Four Movements was originally conceived as a string quartet, and its first performance in that form was given by Cuarteto Latinoamericano at Mellon Institute Auditorium (Pittsburgh) on April 7, 1992. The orchestra-plus-quartet version was written at the request of Juan Pablo Izquierdo and Cuarteto Latinoamericano. the first performance, on which this recording is based, was given at Carnegie Music Hall, Pittsburgh, on March 11, 1993. --Riccardo Schultz

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