Ludwig:sein:Seine (2021)

Commissioned and premiered by the American String Quartet – February 13, 2022.

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Peter Winograd, violin

Laurie Carney, violin

Daniel Avshalomov, viola

Wolfram Koessel, cello

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Ludwig:sein:Seine draws inspiration from Marc Chagall’s 1957 painting, The Concert. In the painting, two lovers are depicted on a boat, traveling from a cool, blue Paris to some otherworldly higher sphere, filled with quasi-mythical creatures and reddish hues. They ultimately make their way back to Paris, though now transformed by this journey. As I stared at the painting, I started to imagine a young Ludwig van Beethoven as one of the two lovers on this boat, perhaps with his immortal beloved, being serenaded and led on a psychedelic trip along the Seine. The force pulling the boat toward this higher realm is represented by the music coming from the mythical creatures’ string instruments. This idea of music as something larger than life with a heavenly allure greatly inspired me to compose this piece. I have embedded into Ludwig:sein:Seine a quote from Beethoven’s String Quartet in C-sharp Minor Op. 131; the quote gets distorted as it travels through various sonic profiles, representing the distinct sections of the painting.