El jardin de senderos que se bifurcan

El jardin de senderos que se bifurcan is a suite of six songs for string quartet, written for the JACK quartet in the Fall/Winter of 2012-2013. The titles of the songs are: I - Altercation, II - Pedals, III - Strumming, IV - Following, V - Lament, VI - Coils. The title of the work comes from a short story by Borges, which describes a conception of time where all possible outcomes of any given situation realized and co-exist. This idea speaks to alternate histories and the concept of multi-dimensionality or “many-worlds”. In this string quartet I have begun to imagine an alternate history of music, perhaps forking off somewhere in ancient times. In approaching this idea, I considered how musical development is influenced by perception and cognition and is built upon through notation and exposure to novel ideas and outside influences.