SMALL CHAMBER ENSEMBLE - INTONATIONS (2016) - String Quartet
Duration - 20:00
2 violin, viola, violoncello.
Commissioned by the 92nd Street Y and the Tanglewood Music Center
“The score gives uncannily effective “voice” to the sounds of Harlem, be they a wheezing harmonica, a blues guitar sliding into microtones, throaty and gritty street talk or an absentmindedly strummed banjo, for which the JACK proved invariably masterful musical mimics.”
“Inspired by a rereading of Ralph Ellison’s 1952 novel, “The Invisible Man,” the work evokes the atmosphere of Ellison’s sound world – that of jazz, blues and film scoring touches of the 1940s and ’50s, all refracted through Bermel’s own 21st-century sensibility. Its opening movement, “Harmonica,” captures the blown and drawn chordal sound of the instrument it is named for, but only for a moment: Bermel quickly moves toward jazz rhythms and film noir allusions. The central movement, “Hymn/Homily,” begins on a mournful, sour note, but expands energetically. And “Hustle,” the finale, molds grand, dissonant chords into vehement speech rhythms, which in turn melt into expansive, curving lines.”
Score & Parts Rental
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Program Notes
I. Harmonica
II. Hymn/Homily
III. Hustle
"Intonations" is my first multi-movement quartet, inspired in part by the novel "The Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison. Each movement explores a distinct quality of the human voice, from the breath of harmonica blues to a gospel singer's melodic thread to vocal cadences in hiphop. It has been a great joy to collaborate with the JACK Quartet for several years, both as performer and composer.
Intonations was commissioned by the 92 St. Y for premiere performance on May 23, 2016 as part of the New York Philharmonic Biennial. “Harmonica” was workshopped and performed previously in June 2015 at the Tanglewood Music Center. I'm grateful to these institutions and to Clement So and Ellen Highstein for helping bring this new composition to life.