SCRATCH (2012)
SCRATCH (2012)
for string quartet
instrumentation: 2vno, vla, vc
duration: 6 minutes
première: September 15, 2012 The Olive Grove, Delikipos, Cyprus
Quartetto Prometeo
The 4th International Pharos Contemporary Music Festival
SCRATCH
score preview
SCRATCH
(excerpt)
String quartet Dissonance
Recording published on CD – Dissonance by RTV Slovenia ZKP
Produced by Radio Slovenia
Additional performances
String quartet Dissonance
String quartet Dissonance
String quartet Dissonance
String quartet Dissonance
String quartet Dissonance
String quartet Dissonance
String quartet Dissonance
String quartet Dissonance
String quartet Dissonance
String quartet Dissonance
String quartet Dissonance
String quartet Dissonance
Miladin Batalovi
& Maja Peternel – violins
Ana Trnjar – viola, Nikolaj Sajko – violoncello
Sonar Quartett
Quartetto Prometeo
VIDEO
Quartetto Prometeo
Published on DVD – Progetto Dante by Centro San Fedele, Milano
Quartetto Prometeo
Project for Centro San Fedele Milano
ABOUT
The short movement SCRATCH joins the earlier Fragment and the youthful String Quartet No. 1 as one of Žuraj’s rare forays into the string quartet genre. “Scratch-tones” are the timbres string players produce by drawing the bow across the strings with excessive pressure. The result typically has no defined pitch, and can range from a tender, abstract “scratching” to an aggressive “crunch”. SCRATCH opens with a plethora of such tones in varying dynamics, followed by an interplay of glissando contours, each featuring one of the numerous timbral variations typical of string instruments – from massive chords across all four strings to ricochets with the wood of the bow (col legno) and pizzicato.
The prevailing glissando gestures give way shortly before the work’s close to a sudden and surprising moment of clarity, in which all four instruments join forces in a single, melodic line of legato chords in rhythmic unison. The four instruments quickly disperse again, however, and the work finishes on a splintering of col legno and, finally, a return to the opening scratch-tones. Unlike the earlier Fragment, SCRATCH flows as a largely cohesive movement, and treats the string quartet as a single entity, rather than a deliberately disparate collection of four individual instruments.
Alwyn Tomas Westbrooke
The short movement SCRATCH joins the earlier Fragment and the youthful String Quartet No. 1 as one of Žuraj’s rare forays into the string quartet genre. “Scratch-tones” are the timbres string players produce by drawing the bow across the strings with excessive pressure. The result typically has no defined pitch, and can range from a tender, abstract “scratching” to an aggressive “crunch”. SCRATCH opens with a plethora of such tones in varying dynamics, followed by an interplay of glissando contours, each featuring one of the numerous timbral variations typical of string instruments – from massive chords across all four strings to ricochets with the wood of the bow (col legno) and pizzicato. The prevailing glissando gestures give way shortly before the work’s close to a sudden and surprising moment of clarity, in which all four instruments join forces in a single, melodic line of legato chords in rhythmic unison. The four instruments quickly disperse again, however, and the work finishes on a splintering of col legno and, finally, a return to the opening scratch-tones. Unlike the earlier Fragment, SCRATCH flows as a largely cohesive movement, and treats the string quartet as a single entity, rather than a deliberately disparate collection of four individual instruments.
Alwyn Tomas Westbrooke