About the piece

Inspired by my mother’s quilting practices, Quilt I was patched together using both isorhythym and fugue. The talea (rhythm) of the isorhythm was derived from length of the seams in the house-quilt pattern that my mother uses, and the colour (pitches) were taken from the trouvere chanson de toile “Belle Doette.” On top of this I built a fugue.

The two movements are designated by the medieval terms for the front and back of a manuscript page; recto and verso. The movements can be played in either order. Simple multiphonics are used in both the clarinet and flute parts.

Recto: chanson de toile
Verson: chanson d’etoile

Listen

Instrumentation

quartet for flute, clarinet, violin, cello

Duration

7 minutes

year written

2010

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