46AA888E-6F2C-4C6B-BB1C-FC797912F266
| ID | 46AA888E-6F2C-4C6B-BB1C-FC797912F266 |
|---|---|
| Titlecode | X504060 |
| Title Name | Night Songs for a Desert Flower |
| Marketing Copy | A cycle of songs in the character of madrigals for string quartet. |
| Instrumentation | String Quartet |
| Commission | Commissioned by the Harvard Musical Association and Carnegie Hall |
| Dedication | For Lisa |
| Program Notes | Night Songs for a Desert Flower is, at heart, a book of madrigals for string quartet. I began the work thinking that I would be exploring the fundamentally abstract nature of the medium, but quickly found that its intensely focused emotional qualities pushed me towards a work in which the structure of the movements was determined much more by the emotional element in the same way that the madrigal responds to the expressive demands of the text set. As in madrigal cycles, there is a drama played out here, with the main arc contained within the first three movements. The last movement offers a dance of celebration followed by a brief envoi in a coda that disappears into the night. |
| Title Brand | 2 |
| Year Composed | 2009 |
| Copyright Number | (not set) |
| Copyright Year | (not set) |
| Duration | 18 |
| Ensemble Size | 4 |
| Date Created | 2010-02-04 20:32:11.000000 |
| Date Updated | 2025-09-30 20:32:11 |
| Inhouse Note | Brentano exclusive until 12/1/10. 5 yr term agreement. |
| Bsc Code | (not set) |
| Text Author | (not set) |
| Premier Performance Memo | World Premiere. Brentano String Quartet 10/4/09 |
| Recording Credits | (not set) |
| Review | "It says a lot for Stephen Hartke’s 'Night Songs for a Desert Flower' that when the Brentano String Quartet performed the work alongside quartets by Haydn and Beethoven, it seemed fully a part of the continuum: a modern extension of the musical language those composers spoke and as eloquent in its way as the music of its celebrated predecessors." --Allan Kozinn, New York Times |
| Awards | (not set) |
| Title Category | 10 |
| Title Movements | 1. Madrigal (5 min.) 2. Lament (6 min.) 3. Intermezzo (3 min.) 4. Rejouissance (4 min.) |
| Title Grade | (not set) |
| Set Series ID | (not set) |
| Title Instrument Category Text | String Duo & Ensemble |
| Title Sub Category Text | (not set) |
| Title Sub Category | 76 |
| Title Instrument Header | 63 |
| Title Grade Text | (not set) |
| Clean Url | night-songs-for-a-desert-flower-x504060 |