Arrhythmia (Expanded)

This version of Arrhythmia was created for Argento ensemble in 2017, expanded from a 2012 string quartet for JACK quartet of the same name.

This composition draws heavily on Mahler’s ninth symphony, and for those who know the work intimately, many quotations and allusions will be heard. These quotations, however, do not amount to more than a musical wink and the deeper influences come indirectly. Mahler’s music creates a world of it’s own, and while it doesn’t break from the musical tradition of romanticism in the way that the music of Shoenberg did, the mode of expression and the creation of meaning is almost entirely particular to Mahler. How Mahler expresses a sense of form and creates a web of associations and references was the central inspiration for Arrhythmia.

Arrhythmia continues my work in re-imagining the music of historical composers. In 2011, I wrote a piece for 11 musicians that re-imagined Schoenberg’s orchestral work Farben, extracting material and concepts in order to ask myself what Schoenberg might have written if he were composing Farben today. This process has led me to explore new pathways in my music that I would not otherwise have investigated. Perhaps this is a positive way to digest the canon of music history — re-imagining rather than rejecting, playing with history instead of feeling burdened by its weight.