a boxful of colors
for string quartet (2022)
Duration: 10’
plucky
scribbly
glassy
heavy
tappy
hazy
spiky
Like many kids, I used to play with crayons when I was younger. Not trying to draw anything in particular, mind you. It’d be a few scribbles here in red, a few wiggles there in blue, without apparent aim. Just for the sheer joy of coloring.
How I’ve changed. Now, when I create (music, mostly) everything has to mean something. It has to contribute to some larger argument, some deep and ponderous reflection on the human condition.
Which is all well and good, I suppose. But sometimes you just want to color.
And, really, is a string quartet so different from a bunch of crayons? There are so many sonic “colors” it can create: so many varieties of taps, plucks, scratches, and swooshes. In this piece I play with those colors like a kid with crayons: picking one up, fiddling with it for a bit, and moving on to the next.
It’s a wonderfully irreverent way to think about an ensemble as lofty as the string quartet. And it’s a liberating feeling—allowing yourself, every once in a while, to just play.
This piece was composed for the Parker Quartet during their residency at Peabody Conservatory in Fall 2022.