Matthew Lam - Peculiar Voices (2023) for String Quartet [SCORE]

Peculiar Voices for String Quartet
Premiere:
4 AUG 2023. New Generation 2023, RTHK Studio One, Hong Kong
Performed by Romer Quartet
​Winning piece for RTHK & HKCG New Generation 2023

Program notes:
I - Desperate Voices
II - Meditative Voices
III - Roaring Voices

Peculiar Voices aims to explore the timbral boundaries and the strangest sounds a string quartet could produce in a simple and direct manner. Each of the movements features a unique sound world and experiments with a specific set of contemporary techniques and minimal musical materials. Desperate Voices plays with two opposing (timbral) ideas: highest pitch possible and trills, augmented with quick glissandi and sudden bursts. Meditative Voices creates a light, hazy atmosphere with an emphasis on quarter-tone harmonies and harmonics. Roaring Voices features a powerful, distorted sound world with aggressive overpressure passages.
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