String Quartet: "Transformations"

It's dangerous to post anything on April 1, given the date's identification with fools and practical jokes. But I was browsing the Internet and re-discovered Arizona State University's podcast of my sole (so far) String Quartet, titled "Transformations," as performed in its premiere by the Chicago String Quartet, back in 2003. Since no other performing quartet has expressed interest in my score, this may be the only way anyone will ever have of hearing it. And so, for those who may find it appealing, appalling, or at the very least worth a listen, here's the link:

http://www.azpbs.org/kbaq/podcasts.htm#

Warning: The podcast opens with several minutes of commentary by Yours Truly. You may wish to mix a martini while I chatter, then settle down for the 25-minute work.

Finding the podcast, I was also reminded how enthusiastic was the review, written by Richard Nilsen for the online edition of Musical America. Here's an excerpt:

"Transformations" is a 23-minute, 5 movement quartet in which each movement maintains a distinct character while never seeming out of place in the style of the whole.

The movements each use one of the classical forms: the first is a sonata, the second a theme and variations, the third a scherzo -- and this time with a real joke in it -- the fourth a Lento and the finale a fugue.

But none is a simple version of its form. The fugue does not, for instance, offer its entries at the fifth, but at various steps of the scale. It is a jaunty fugue with a them that is part jig, part chromatic descending line. The Scherzo is a play on the Circle of Fifths, and the joke is how to get off this infinite progressions of tonalities. LaFave actually raises a chuckle with his solution.

But the prize of the quartet is the theme and variations, a beautiful melody that might very well be a candidate for a "greatest hits" album. It has something of the gentle swagger of Gershwin's "Lullaby" for quartet, but with a modal feel. It's distinctly memorable chord progressions make following the variations a snap, but the progressions are exceptionally expressive.

One can imagine this movement finding a life of its own, away from the quartet as a whole.

LaFave's voice shows through the whole quartet. It shares the tonal vocabulary of its time -- a time when tonality has had a resurrection -- but never seems derivative. At no point does the listener think: "I've heard that before."

This is the highest praise I can give a new piece of music.

- KLF