SPHERES OF METROPOLIS
For String Quartet (2016)
SPHERES OF METROPOLIS is an aggressive, rhythmically schizophrenic inspection of the human capacity for primal emotion and behavior in a more civilized, "metropolic" environment. Each movement, or "Sphere", investigates a different scenario, or civilized habitat, with which the starring emotion (played throughout the piece by a recurring motive) interacts, and thus morphs, not only itself, but also its surroundings into changed instances of their original forms. As each movement evolves, and the piece as a whole falls into degradation, this raw emotion lashes nearly uncontrollably in an effort to gain freedom from the shackles of civilization. The battle between primal emotion and civilized obligations that concurrently ensues climaxes in a robust finale built upon the fragility of the interconnecting characters and relationships born and aged throughout earlier sections of the piece.
Premiered by the Formalist Quartet in the Wild Beast at the California Institute of the Arts in 2016.