Peter Garland (1953-)
String Quartet No. 1, "In Praise of Poor Scholars" (1986)
String Quartet No. 2 (1994)

Apartment House

Gordon MacKay, Hilary Sturt, Bridget Carey, Anton Lukoszevieze

Peter Garland is a composer, world traveler, musicologist, and writer whose music has been marked for many years by a radical consonance and a simplification of formal structure. This is the premiere recording of two spirited and enticing quartets that draw on the composer’s well-traveled ear and great sense of personal vision. Both works move with a unique sense of grace and a sincerity of expression that is purely Garlandesque. Garland writes about the pieces: String Quartet No. 1, ‘In Praise of Poor Scholars’ was composed in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1986. The work is dedicated to James Tenney (1934-2006), his wife Ann Holloway (1952-1986), and to the memory of Dane Rudhyar (1895-1985). The title is taken from a poem by T”ao Ch’ien (365-427). String Quartet No. 2, ‘Crazy Cloud’ was begun in May 1994 at Koninji Temple (where I was staying at its guest lodgings) in the hills above the town of Hamochi on Sado Island, Japan, and was completed in Kreuzberg, Berlin, in the summer of that year. It is dedicated to Helena de Carvalho Tietjen. Its title refers to the pen name of poet-priest Ikkyu (1394-1481).” [CD and folder in jewel case]