Variations for strings

Written in december 2004, leuven

As i went to study in Gent, in oktober 2004, i met another composition student, Daan Janssens. He conducted an amateur string orchestra 'Scordatura' and asked me to write a short composition for this ensemble. At the time, i found my own compositional style quite traditional and wanted to try some new ideas. The sound i had in mind was very dense, but nevertheless with clearly distinctable melodical lines. I came up with a piece where i wrote the contours of a melody and an exact rhythm, leaving the exact choice for each note to the performer. Each part also had a solo part which did almost exactly the same, but louder. This kept the music relative simple, and at the same time provided the texture i wanted it to have.

The only drawback we noticed was that the players fell back easily to 'natural' notes. They had to be encouraged to play flat and sharp notes, (and even microtonals,) as well.

Sibelius parts and score are available for download, as well as parts and score in pdf format. The live recording is made at the première concert by Scordatura.