Download Sample Pieces
The Quartet Project is a work-in-progress. We encourage to play the music yourself.
The twelve short pieces below are arranged in order of difficulty. The first few are relatively simple. The latter pieces are intended
for more advanced quartets. An * next to the title indicates that the download includes a
third violin part, which can be used in place of the viola.
Click on the links below to get free PDFs of the parts and score.
When complete, the Quartet Project will encompass approximately 2 ½ hours of new
music for string quartet: 120 miniatures and six full-length quartets.
Pre-order your copy of the Quartet Project now!
From Volume 1:
* Four views of a simple tune
Four versions of a short tune in first position, moving gradually from unison writing to
four-part counterpoint.
* Clang factor
Loud, bright, and brash. Other than a few easy natural harmonics, all four parts stay in first position.
From Volume 2:
* Circular song
A modal tune. First violin uses third position. Other parts are in first position throughout.
* Widening circle
An expansion of the tune from “Circular song”. First violin uses third position. Other parts are in first position throughout.
From Volume 3:
* Quadricycle
Harmonies based on open fourths and fifths. Requires shifting in all parts, but no high positions. Some simple meter changes
(2/4, 3/4, 4/4).
* Flirt’s waltz
A tuneful waltz with comfortable solos for everyone except the second violin (though s/he does get a nice duet line). Just a hint of
sleaziness makes it a favorite of intermediate quartets.
From Volume 4:
* Broken lines
Three different lines are divided among the four players: a brief melody, a pizzicato bass line, and a scampering 16th note figure.
The individual parts are straightforward (the cello part requires 4th position); the trick is to make the hand-offs between parts
seamless.
Listen to Broken lines (melody only)
Listen to Broken lines (pizzicato line only)
Listen to Broken lines (16th notes only)
Listen to Broken lines (complete)
Sevens
Exuberance in 7/8 (the bar is always divided as 2+3+2). 3rd position for first violin; 4th position for viola.
From Volume 5:
Starting point
Changing meters, crunching accents, big melodies for the first violin and viola.
Lullaby
A warm, sweeping tune in A major. Solos for all parts.
From Volume 6:
Hang time
Quasi-minimalist, with lyrical lines that float in time. This is best-suited to a more advanced group, as the counting can be a bit
tricky. Walking in a park in Vienna, I heard music in the distance but couldn’t discern its source—some sort of guitar? A
gamelan? A cimbalom ensemble? Approaching the sound, I found a thin, bearded man playing a “Hang,” a lap-sized steel drum
invented in Switzerland in 2000. A beautiful, haunting timbre... “Hang Time” is my tribute to the beautiful haunting timbres I heard
in the park that afternoon.
Compulsion
A four-note ostinato motive unfolds obsessively.
