Summer Night Music, for piano quartet

Commissioned by the Chamber Music Festival of Lexington

Year
2012
Duration
20 minutes
"From its captivating opening--with the piano playing rustling runs, the violin and viola trading searching phrases and the cello repeating a calming riff--the music seemed the manifestation of a confident new musical voice." -The New York Times

I wrote Summer Night Music in the late spring and early summer of 2012. When I thought of when the piece was being premiered (around Labor Day, at night), I began to
imagine what the most appropriate music would be. And I thought of my own summer nights, picturing a quiet, lazy evening at home. I pictured summer evenings from
childhood. What would they sound like?

Summer Night Music is dedicated to my grandfather, who passed away while I was writing the piece. I break up the work into four movements, the first of which, “Twilight,”is a small elegy for my grandfather. “Fireflies” depicts children scampering to catch fireflies at dusk; “Evening Prayers” is meant to portray prayers before sleep. Finally, the fourth movement, “Sleep Music,” signifies the day shifting into night.

Premiere performance (audio) by Jasmine Lin, Burchard Tang, Priscilla Lee, and Alessio Bax at Fasig Tipton Pavilion in Lexington, Kentucky

Video below by the Opus One Piano Quartet (Ida Kavafian, Steven Tenenbom, Peter Wiley, and Anne-Marie McDermott)

Category
Chamber Works
Instrumentation
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