String quartet no. 1, The Pearl German String Quartet
Duration ca. 20' (2005)
String Quartet
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Commissioned by Mr. Jeremiah German.
Premiered by Carpe Diem String Quartet, Baltimore, MD, January 29, 2006.
Other performances: Carpe Diem String Quartet, Delaware, OH, January 31, 2006; Jackson, MI, February 12, 2006; Columbus, OH, October 8, 2006; Delaware, OH, October 10, 2006; Bloomington, IL, November 19, 2006; Stevenville, TX, January 22, 2007, Columbus, OH, May 14-15, 2010.
Leshnoff's command of instrumental color is so firm, and his tart, insinuating harmonies so arresting... strong-limbed and imaginative.
—Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle, July 2012
Its melodic lines are quite distinct, its harmonics balanced, its depth given by the composer’s mastery of both counterpoint and colorful orchestration. Though richly tonal, this is music quite distinct from anything else that’s out there at the moment.
—Strings Magazine, June, 2009
Program Note
At her seventy-ninth birthday, Jerry German wondered how to celebrate his wife’s eightieth birthday. What would be appropriate for someone who had completed eight decades as an accomplished mother and as a professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health as a researcher, mentor and teacher in gerontology.
Only something different and with a life expectancy beyond the immediate would do. With this objective in mind, he contacted Jonathan Leshnoff to commission a quartet in her honor. Initially, he was thinking of four movements each related to a particular season to be played during its respective time, with a cumulative gala concert at the end of the year. However, compositional thought is not a predictable act with movements being completed in their appointed time. Thus, the result was that the composition grew over time with a decision to have all four movements of the quartet played today.
This quartet will be known as The Pearl German Quartet No. 1 by Jonathan Leshnoff. The hope is that this quartet joins the canon of quartet repertoire.