Jeu de temps

Michael G. Sinshack
Jeu de temps
String Quartet Number One
In Three Movements

I. Privation et angoisse
II. Âme de douleur
III. Esprit réveillé

Dedicated to David C. Moore

Composed at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Winter 1995/1996
Revised in August, 1996

Premiered on 30 April, 1996 at the University of Wisconsin, Fine Arts Recital Hall

Jeu de temps [The Game of Time] is a programmatic composition for string quartet. The music is symbolic of the distress experienced by one who has suffered an injustice. This hardship and anguish (Privation et angoisse); sorrow of the soul and the agony with in (Åme de douleur); and the awakening and renewal of spirit (Esprit réveillé) help define this work's aims. The composition is devoid of tonal implications. Half-steps and tritones serve as its foundation, yet these are often contrasted with major seconds, and quartal or quintal harmonies. Prime, inverted, transposed, rotated, and retrograde forms of melodic cells and harmonic progressions are used throughout. Also utilized are rhythmic transformations such as retrograde, augmentation, diminution and irregular changes in meter.

-M. Sinshack
April 5, 1996