Work
A Cool Wind
for string quartet
About
'This musical supplication is inspired partly by the playing of world-renowned duduk player Djivan Gasparyan. It is a plea for a balm, a cool wind, to ease anguish and torment.'
- John Psathas, note on the score of A Cool Wind.
In my past experiences collaborating with master folk musicians in Greece, I repeatedly came across the same answer when querying them on their ultimate aim when performing; namely that what they try to do is emulate the human voice, whatever the instrument they happen to be playing (even percussionists!) I think the inspiration behind this concept is one of eliminating the barrier between the impulse and the sound, to remove the instrument from the equation and - in the way of singing - articulate spontaneously. The duduk is one of the most remarkably voice-like instruments I have ever heard, and it is this quality which inspired me when writing.
The title page refers to this piece as a supplication, and this is the best description of the overlapping inner parts that grow out of the opening few measures.
-JP
Commissioned note
Commissioned for the Takacs Quartet by Chamber Music New Zealand
Performance history
23 Jul 2008: Takacs Quartet: Auckland
24 Jul 2008: Takacs Quartet: Wellington
26 Jul 2008: Takacs Quartet: Christchurch
14 Mar 2010: Takacs Quartet: Louisville
15 Mar 2010: Takacs Quartet: Ann Arbor
18 Mar 2010: Takacs Quartet: Oberlin
14 Apr 2010: Takacs Quartet: Middlebury
18 Apr 2010: Takacs Quartet: New York
20 Apr 2010: Takacs Quartet: Buffalo
21 Apr 2010: Takacs Quartet: Indianapolis
26 Jun 2011: Intimate Voices - Felix the Quartet
26 Oct 2011: Intimate Voices - Felix the Quartet (Rotorua)