Garth Knox [b. 1956]
Secret Letters [2023]

Commissioned by the Marmen Quartet with funds from the Arts Council of Ireland

Performed by the Marmen Quartet
MTU Cork School of Music 19th October 2023

00:00 Over the waves
06:00 Running
11:45 Dream (and Jig)
16:30 Blessing

Score and parts available from the composer at: garthknox@gmail.com

When the Marmen Quartet asked me to write a piece for them, to be played in a program with Janacek’s “Intimate Letters” I was immediately inspired by the theme of letters. But instead of intimate letters written to a loved one, as in Janacek’s case, I thought that they could be secret letters, written by the members of the quartet themselves to each other, speaking of all the hidden communication which goes on constantly in a quartet, but which isnever spoken about openly.

Each player in turn leads one of the four main movements, which explores both their musical personality and their way of being in the group. The first movement is led by the first violin, gradually gathering the other members into the quartet, then leading them across a gentle series of waves, where the first violin soars higher and higher above the others. At the highest point, there is a small pause while the other players gradually all rise to a unison on this very high note, as if they all wanted to experience the view from on high. Then we continue with the waves and a gentle descent leads into a return of the opening, followed by a first exchange of secret letters.

These secret letters they write to and about themselves are represented by various techniques of imitating the writing process, mostly with the bow, evoking the audible traces of pen on paper and the thoughts behind them. Music being marvellously ambiguous, these sounds can be very expressive without betraying their secret meaning.

As a result of this first exchange of letters, the viola player decides to seize the initiative, and imposes a manic ‘moto perpetuo’ on the others. As the music gathers momentum and charges forward frenetically, the first argument breaks out between the members, and there is a running fugue of blows and insults until the quartet sound dissolves into noise, then gradually creeps back towards unison and ‘normality’. Everyone experiences the ‘viola ‘moment on one note then a transition begins leading to another exchange of secret letters. This second exchange is very positive, a sense of consensus is found, and common beliefs are shared.

The cello emerges as the leading voice in the third movement, singing a crystalline high solo line, all in natural harmonics. The interference between two different series of natural harmonics brings on a passage of turmoil and uncertainty, and in the fallout from this harmonic clash appears the ghost of a jig, in a brief and secret reference to a recent marriage.

The third exchange of letters follows, and a second argument breaks out. The second violin decides to calm the waters, and leads the quartet through a kind of chorale-like benediction, inspired by the male voice quartets of Sardinia where the singers try to create a rich composite sound by projecting their voices strongly into the sound of the others, seeking to experience the physical vibrations and the interactions between the notes in a chord.

The quartet finds its balance and calm in a simple but rich major chord. After a brief sequence of letters, each player revisits their individual theme but reshapes it into a common possession and the piece ends with a renewed sense of togetherness and affirmation.

Secret Letters was commissioned by the Marmen Quartet with funds from the Arts Council of Ireland. World première on NSQF Irish tour, October 2023. Garth Knox

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Garth Knox was born in Ireland and spent his childhood in Scotland. Being the youngest of four children who all played string instruments, he was encouraged to take up the viola and quickly decided to make this his career. He studied with Frederic Riddle at the Royal College of Music in London where he won several prizes for viola and for chamber music. Thereafter he played with most of the leading groups in London in a mixture of all repertoires, from baroque to contemporary music.

In 1983 he was invited by Pierre Boulez to become a member of the Ensemble InterContemporain in Paris, which involved regular solo playing, including concertos directed by Pierre Boulez, and chamber music, touring widely and playing in international festivals.

In 1990 Garth Knox joined the Arditti String Quartet, which led him to play in all the major concert halls of the world, working closely with and giving first performances of pieces by most of today’s leading composers including Ligeti, Kurtag, Berio, Xenakis, Lachenmann, Cage, Feldman and Stockhausen (the famous“Helicopter Quartet”).
Since leaving the quartet In 1998, to concentrate on his solo career, he has given premieres by Ligeti, Schnittke, George Benjamin and many others, including pieces which were especially written for him by composers like Henze, Haas, Saariaho, James Dillon. He also collaborates regularly in theatre and dance projects, and has written and performed a one-man show for children.

He has recently become a pioneer of the viola d’amore, exploring its possibilities in new music, with and without electronics, and is in the process of creating a new repertoire for this instrument.
Garth Knox now lives in Paris, where he enjoys a full time solo career, giving recitals, concertos and chamber music concerts all over Europe, the USA and Japan. He is also an active composer, and his «Viola Spaces », the first phase of an on-going series of concert studies for strings (published in 2010 by Schott) combines ground-breaking innovation in string technique with joyous pleasure in the act of music making. The pieces have been adopted and performed by young string players all over the world.

Garth Knox is Visiting Professor of viola at the Royal Academy of Music in London.