Program Note

I started to write this quartet back in 2011, and couldn’t quite get going – I had a lot of starting points, but where it was going was unclear to me. And then all the work was lost, a software crash that rendered the files unretrievable. Unwilling or unable to try and remember what I’d done, I forgot all about it as other demands on my time came and went. Years passed. In January of 2023 I met Sara at my solo concert at Zebulon, and was spurred to go and revisit the files. Miraculously, after a long overdue software update, they were now suddenly accessible again! It was like diving into a mindset that I no longer understood, but which nevertheless made perfect sense! Everything fell into place. I don’t really know why, or even what the piece is about, so Patience seemed like a good name for it! From five fragments I completed the quartet in a matter of days. The result speaks to my obsession as a rock and roller with pulse, repetition, variation, and a narrative of episodes. I’ve always been more of a songwriter than a composer, so that’s how I hear it. I’m honored and delighted that the wonderful Eclipse Quartet have supported and encouraged me in bringing this lost work to life after such a long wait!