Four Works for Cello Quartet
1991
Program Notes
These four pieces were all composed for the New York based ensemble Cello. The first two movements, The Visionary and Samba Del Sol were composed on commission from The Pennfield Music Commission Project in 1989, featured on
their debut CD “Cello”. The subsequent movements Six Mile Creek, and Bela In Blue, were composed for a follow up recording of the quartet in 1991,“Subliminal Blues And Greens”
.Although these are grouped as a set, and can be performed as such, they can also be presented as stand alone pieces, or in any other combinations the performers desire.
All of these four pieces represent a thread in my early work, when I was first exploring the intersection of minimalist musical structure with jazz & American folk harmonic sensibilities. Other works that also delve into this same area are the Concerto for Jazz Bass & Orchestra (1989), and my score to the Ed Harris film Pollock (2000)
– Jeff Beal