These are my three string quartets, recorded on the Acis label. The Terra String Quartet, my collaborators here, thrilled me by winning the Naumburg Competition.
The recording, and everything involved with it, is one of the happiest collaborations I’ve ever had.
To quote the quartet, whose violinists had taken one of the courses I taught at Juilliard:
Throughout this process, Greg went from a beloved professor to respected colleague and friend.
It is no wonder that his music is so poignant and can speak to so many, given the incredibly rich life he has lived.
Read the CD booklet, with full liner notes
We’re releasing this in stages, one quartet at a time. Quartet for Anne (see below) is already out, and has been played on classical radio. The Remembered Song will be released soon, and the entire album, with all three quartets, will be released in May, on CD and for download and streaming.
The quartets
Quartet for Anne
A surprise birthday gift, romantic and intricate, for my wife Anne Midgette. I brought musicians to our home to play it.
I wove this from pieces of mine that Anne knew, enriching them with new rhythms and textures, the instruments crossing each other, changing the color of the music as it flows.
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The Remembered Song
A song we may have known in heaven, remembered first in fragments.
The song stays with us as we go through episodes in life, waking, walking, running, war and mourning, drowsiness, and sleep (in which, as if we’re dreaming, we hear the quiet song complete).
Recording coming soon
Learn more (coming soon)
Mahler Variations
A Mahler theme — from the last movement of the Third Symphony — goes through 22 variations, on a journey whose meaning comes only with the sadly quiet final chord.
This piece is like a personal encyclopedia, with each variation written in its own musical style, paying tribute to things I love — films, nature, Proust, and, above all else, music ranging from Elvis to Webern.
Recording coming soon
Learn more (coming soon)