Enthusiasm Strategies

Missy Mazzoli

2019

String quartet (violin (2), viola, cello)

I think of music itself, particularly the music made by the KronosQuartet, as a strategy for mustering enthusiasm and joy. It’s a way of setting the world in order, a method of carving up time in way that, seemingly by magic, changes our frame of mind, energizes us, and gives us courage and reassurance. In this piece I tried to combine techniques that were both scary and familiar to me; a cascade of natural harmonics collapses into an ecstatic chorale, which then evaporates into silence. Enthusiasm Strategies was composed for the Kronos Quartet as part of their amazing and important educational initiative Fifty for the Future. I’m honored to contribute to this project and thrilled to be part of the incredible legacy of this quartet.