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

November 16, 2019, Slovenian Philharmonic, Slovenia
String quartet Dissonance
September 15, 2018, St. Mohor Church Vransko, Slovenia
String quartet Dissonance
September 13, 2017, Kanal ob Soi, Kogojevi dnevi, Slovenia
String quartet Dissonance
March 26, 2017, Rae Castle, Slovenia
String quartet Dissonance
March 16, 2017, Kulturni dom Nova Gorica, Slovenia
String quartet Dissonance
January 19, 2017, Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia
String quartet Dissonance
January 15, 2017, Slovenian Theatre in Trieste, Italy
String quartet Dissonance
July 25, 2016, Murska Sobota, Slovenia
String quartet Dissonance
July 17, 2016, National Library Ljubljana, Slovenia
String quartet Dissonance
November 11, 2015, Koper, Slovenia
String quartet Dissonance
September 5, 2015, Acqui Terme Alessandria, Italy
String quartet Dissonance
February 2, 2015, DSS Atelier, Slovenia
String quartet Dissonance
May 27, 2014, SNG Maribor, Slovenia
Miladin Batalovi
& Maja Peternel – violins
Ana Trnjar – viola, Nikolaj Sajko – violoncello
July 5, 2013, Viitasaari Time of Music, Parish Hall, Finland
Sonar Quartett
October 15, 2012, Auditorium San Fedele Milano, Italy
Quartetto Prometeo

VIDEO

SCRATCH: Full recording
Quartetto Prometeo
Published on DVD – Progetto Dante by Centro San Fedele, Milano
SCRATCH: Full recording
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

Dissonance (2016)

Published by RTV Slovenia ZKP

Dissonance String Quartet

recorded pieces:
SCRATCH

Progetto Dante (2013)

Published by San Fedele Musica

Quartetto Prometeo

recorded pieces:
SCRATCH