Gursky Landscapes (string quinet)
Instrumentaion: 2 vln. vla. 2 vc.
PROGRAMME NOTE
I have chosen five images from different periods of Gursky’s output to base my piece upon. Three of which are outdoors in mountainous panoramas (Dolomites, Les Mées and Utah), each seeming to ask questions about man’s place within these wild, epic landscapes; and two of which are in equally impressive but indoor, ‘cathedral-esque’ spaces (Kamiokande and Kathedrale), both imbued with asense of ‘spirituality’, wonder and awe.
The piece is not a cello concerto as such, but the solo cello features heavily throughout the work, framing each movement with a series of expressive lines and cadenzas, perhaps depicting the traces of human intrusion found within the images themselves.
Though each of the movements are self-contained, fragments of melody, the use of harmonics, and triadic chorales (used here to represent the mountainous landscape found in three of the images)seep through the work, loosely connecting each movement with familiar thematic motifs.
- Dolomites, Cable Car – c 5:50 mins
- Les Mées – c 4:15 mins
- Kamiokande – c 1 min
- Utah – c 2:50 mins
- Kathedrale – c 6 mins
