Seóirse Bodley [1933-2023]
String Quartet no.4 Strings in the earth and air [2007]
1. Adagio
2. Allegro
Performed by the Esposito Quartet
Birr Theatre and Arts Centre, 24th October 2025
Strings in the earth and air
Make music sweet;
Strings by the river where
The willows meet.
There's music along the river
For Love wanders there,
Pale flowers on his mantle,
Dark leaves on his hair.
All softly playing,
With head to the music bent,
And fingers straying
Upon an instrument.
James Joyce
This composition, commissioned by RTÉ for the Vanbrugh Quartet, was completed in July 2007: it is in two movements. Like some of my most recent work it stems to a large extent from my readings in various works of that excellent philosopher, Karl Popper, readings that have led me to question some of the main hypotheses on which musical modernism is based. As a result, in this quartet, as in at least two other recent works, I have experimented with music based largely on simple chording, while not ignoring the irregularly shaped formal structures that I have employed in my more modernist works. To that extent, at least, this quartet attempts to recover for myself some of the ground that a composer has to cede in order to conform to the tenets of musical modernism. As a result, this piece hinges on a kind of personal ‘reverse experimentalism’.
At the same time I must confess that the procedures of minimalism do not appeal to me as a composer, so I have written here in a personal style that relates in some way to my other works. (Incidentally, it is impossible not to ‘express yourself’ no matter what stylistic practices you adapt, since what you are is a trademark you carry with you in all that you do. In consequence, I do not feel that changes of style are of more than secondary importance in the greater musical scheme of things.)
Stylistic matters are, however, not the only consideration here. This quartet is also inspired by the idea of music as being all around us, surrounding us always both from above and below. The music of the entire quartet expresses this symbolically in chordal structures based on high thirds and low thirds simultaneously. It is a recurrent idea that influences many aspects of the music.
The first movement, an Adagio, is intense and sustained, lasting some six minutes. The Allegro that follows is quite varied in its expressive demands: brilliant delivery of sustained chording, expressive playing, intensity and excitement, tranquillity are all required, often in quite close proximity. In terms of variety of expression it makes considerable demands on the players.
The title of the Quartet is taken from a simple lyric by James Joyce. The work is dedicated ‘to my dear wife, Lorraine’.
Composer’s Programme Note 2007