Voyage

Ellen Taaffe Zwilich

2012

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

When the family heirs to the legendary Galimir String Quartet (three sisters and a brother) gathered to commemorate the centenary birth years of these famed performers, they chose Ellen Taaffe Zwilich to commission for this honor. The composer, who has also worked professionally as a violinist, responded with a one-movement odyssey entitled Voyage, cross-breeding her own characteristic style with glimpses of Viennese waltzes and other Galimir flavor. "There is a sweet, sad lyricism to this work, a hectic discord..., some wailing and moaning, these moods alternating with dancing klezmer rhythms of Jewish wedding music that take over and make things right in the end." (Stanley Fefferman, BachTrack.com)