Qohelet

Qohelet (2011)

[…] "Qohelet" as it exists at this moment is a lovely, searching piece. The first movement is a mournful song, almost like a prayer heard from far away. [Violinist Geoff] Nuttall's metaphor for the transition to the second movement was that of a motorcycle chugging away in the lower strings, while a solo violinist soared, the driver as a free spirit. Once he had said that, it became hard for a listener not to soar along.

Momentum builds from the point on, and by the end Golijov is practically reaching for the moon. But his new ending leaves the "Qohelet" suspended in mid-air like, the composer writes in his program note, Don Quixote's sword. I heard that ending as an intriguing, unanswered question.

— Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times Music Critic

 

Duration
12'00
Premiered
Dinkelspiel Auditorium, Stanford, CA
October 23, 2011
Premier Performance
by the St Lawrence String Quartet
Commissioned
by the St Lawrence String Quartet
 
Joe Fitzgerald