MusicString quartet
Leaps and Bounds
Hopeful trills, stifled attempts at flight, and the slow building of newfound courage.
At a glance
- Composed
- 2026
- Forces
- Violin I, Violin II, Viola, Violoncello
- Duration
- c. 10′
- Status
- Complete; available for premiere
- Score
- Perusal PDF, free to download; parts on request
Listen
Program note
A sonata-form movement in A-flat major. It opens on trilled, hopeful textures. The first theme keeps reaching upward and is cut off by sudden loud interruptions: stifled attempts at flight. A lyrical second theme in D minor answers with swaying, inward-turning lines in parallel thirds and sixths over open fifths.
The development breaks both themes apart, falls silent, and rebuilds with newfound courage. The return climbs into higher registers through mixed modes and ends in a soft, quiet coda.
For performers
What the score asks of the players, read from the engraved parts.
- Tempo
- ♩ = 90
- Meter
- 4/4, with passages in 9/8 and 6/4
- Key signatures
- Four flats (A♭ major), later three flats
- Length
- 181 bars
- The introduction is built on trills across the quartet (twelve trills in all); let them sound hopeful rather than ornamental.
- Measured thirty-second-note tremolos recur through the score.
- Sudden loud interruptions cut the first theme short: the dynamic range is wide, from ppp and niente to ff, with sfz accents.
- Double stops are frequent in the lower voices, above all the cello and viola.
- Violin I climbs to A♭6 in the return.
| Part | Lowest to highest |
|---|---|
| Violin I | A♭3–A♭6 |
| Violin II | G3–E♭6 |
| Viola | C3–A♭5 |
| Violoncello | C2–F4 |
Score and parts
Downloads
Parts
Individual parts are sent on request. Tell me who is playing and when, and I will send the score and parts ready for rehearsal.
Give Leaps and Bounds its premiere
This piece is available for its first performance. If your ensemble would like to give it, I would love to hear from you. Or, if you would rather have something new, ask about a commission.
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