I yearn, therefore I am

for string quartet

Commissioned and premiered by the Daedalus Quartet as part of their "Music & Migration" 2019-20 concert season.
Duration: 13'


Program Notes

I yearn, therefore I am for string quartet is inspired by a Polish poem a może... that I wrote in the summer of 2018. The narrative of the text is built on similar sounding words and homophones (może my/możemy/morze/umrzemy) and is about hope for the human survival. The poem inspired the music on multiple levels: (i) on a micro-level, specific pitches and techniques are assigned to specific words and syllables; (ii) on a meso-level, lengths of sections are either directly or inversely proportional to the lengths of verses (iii) finally, on a macro-level, the character of the music expresses the emotional meaning of the text. Although one can read the poem to enhance the listening experience of the music, both the poem and the music can exist as stand-alone works.


[ Score excerpt (opens in new tab)]

The Daedalus Quartet
Violin - Min-Young Kim, Matilda Kaul
Viola - Jessica Thompson
Violoncello - Thomas Kraines

First two movements premiered as part of "Music & Migration" series at the Kelly Writers House, University of Pennsylvania. November 2019
Entire work premiered at the Penn Sound Collective concert of graduate composers at Rose Recital Hall, University of Pennsylvania. December 2019