String Tunes

String Tunes is an hour-long group of pieces for different subsets of seven instruments:

three violins, viola, two celli, and contrabass.

Some of the pieces are in just intonation; some of the movements are played scordatura (retuned); and some of the music is inspired by fiddle tunes. Several of the pieces use electronic processing.

String Tunes is a collection of music I have been working on since 2006 for different subsets of seven instruments: three violins, viola, two celli, and contrabass. The title is descriptive: some of these pieces are in just intonation; some of the movements are played scordatura (retuned); and some of the music is inspired by fiddle tunes. It is an immense set of pieces; the finished collection will last more than an hour.

Many of the pieces fall into the category of “Finger Music,” a term I use for music that is about the left hand: one finger pattern is repeated on different strings. While Bach’s unaccompanied works often have finger patterns heard at different pitch levels, this left-hand music capitalizing on scordatura tunings is unusual. Because the “Finger Music” pieces are left-hand conceptions, many of these pieces can be played on violin, viola, or cello.

I began String Tunes while in residence at the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire in 2006. I wanted to have music to share with the other artists-in- residence, so I started making music for myself to play on the violin. At the end of my residency, I presented a recital for my fellow colonists; this was the first performance of some of the String Tunes. Composing these pieces was unusually visceral for me — it was about the feel of the violin, the fingers on the fingerboard, and the sound of one violin. It was about having fun with finger patterns. Notating the pieces came after I had worked them out on the instrument. (Obviously, this is quite different than how I compose for a chamber group or for orchestra.) I have since added many more solos, a few duos and trios and one quartet. Still to come are the larger ensemble pieces: a quintet, a sextet and a septet. Some are performed with electronic processing; one is for electronics alone.

Most of the solos are named for where each piece was begun: Chapman studio at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, NH; Dublin, New Hampshire, where I teach in the summers at The Walden School; Lehmann House, on the Walden campus; Prospect is named for Prospect Park, just blocks from an apartment I was subletting in Brooklyn; Crescent Avenue, where I lived when I first moved to Buffalo; Morning Porch (MacDowell) was begun on the porch of my studio at MacDowell; and Annandale-on-Hudson is named for the town where Bard college is (a violinist at Bard was studying there and I thought the piece would be for her (but it wasn’t)). Bidwell is named for Bidwell Parkway, just outside Buffalo Seminary where the trio was premiered.

For solo instrument:

Prospect
Annandale
Song for Jim
Crossings I
Crossings II

Dublin

Lehmann

Boat Song

Chapman

Crescent

Morning Porch (MacDowell)

Lullaby

For ensemble:

Trio for three violins

Bidwell (Collage for Gerald Mead) for two violins and viola

The Hebe Replacement for two violins, cracklebox and electronics

The Butterfly Effect for string quartet, CD and rainsticks

(or two string quartets and rainsticks)

Performers who have performed selections from String Tunes include:

Miranda Cuckson

Max Mandel

Yuki Numata Resnick

Miranda Sielaff

Amy Glidden

Duane Padilla

Janz Castelo

Megan Prokes

Loren Silvertrust

Matt McBane

Jim Altieri