Songs without Words

I’m beginning work on my fifth string quartet.  I’ve decided to try something new with this piece – form-wise and tonally.

There will be five movements in the following order:

1.  Allegro – in Dorian mode.  Very brisk and quick, carefree.  Key: d do (key signature: a minor)

2.  Improvisatory Passacaglia in Jazz Form – in a minor.  A regular four-bar repeating pattern played by the three upper voices to an improvised cello part.  Ornamentation will occur in the upper voices while retaining the original line on the beats.  A sample cello part may be supplied.

3.  Romance – a traditional Adagio movement in D major, with emphasis on a florid treble melody.

4.  Scherzo – an atonal dance with quarter note near 400.  Key signature in E major, but largely no reference to keys or diatonic harmony.

5.  Fugue in 4 voices – a minor, in the irregular meter of 5/4 (subdivided into 2 and 3 at random).  The subject is 4 measures long and opens in the second violin.