Music
No stars, not even clouds
For string quartet
No stars, not even clouds was commissioned by Chamber Music New Zealand for the Enso Quartet. The work is dedicated to them and was premiered by them in Christchurch on 23 October 2012.
About the work
I wrote No stars, not even clouds at a time when several friends of mine were seriously ill, and at the forefront of my mind. Juanita Ketchel, who lived in Dunedin, was both diagnosed with cancer and died within the short time-frame in which the piece was written. She had a profound interest in the arts, and was frequently seen at concerts. The title No stars, not even clouds came from a story she wrote some years ago. The piece is written to her memory.
The piece draws on traditional quartet forms, opening with a phrase which I realised only retrospectively echoes the same shape and rhythm that pervades Tōrua, written for violin and piano in the immediate aftermath of the February 2011 earthquake in Christchurch. Both pieces draw on the Otago accent of the korimako or bellbirds that seem to sing vociferously every time I sit down to write.
No stars, not even clouds is written in a single movement, but has elements of a tripartite structure within it.
Score and recording
Buy or borrow the score from SOUNZ.
No stars, not even clouds — SOUNZ
A recording, released by Rattle CDs, can be bought from SOUNZ and all good record stores.
RNZ Concert recorded a performance by the Enso quartet.