Foxtrot
For String Quintet (2 Violins, Viola, Cello, Bass) and Vibraphone
For String Quintet (2 Violins, Viola, Cello, Bass) and Vibraphone
Duration
7:00
Premiere
March 25th, 2025
By the members of
Lux Musicae
Movements
Single
"Foxtrot" was a piece written for (and winner of) the Jack Stone award for New Music, becoming my second piece of chamber music ever premiered; albeit, downtempo due to its difficulty and unorthodox '2+3+2' feel in seven, which is where Foxtrot gets its namesake.
Eric Whitacre's 'Equus' is what sparked the creation of this piece, born out of a desire to capture the behaviors of arctic foxes similar to Whitacre's expression of gallopping horses. Every motive from the quintet is based on the behaviors of an arctic fox; scurrying, pouncing, or trotting–– while every motive from the vibraphone is based on some element in the fox's habitat; forests, mountains, wind swells, or blizzards. The five strings tell the fox's story, while the Vibraphone tells the story of the Arctic itself.
"Foxtrot" would later be adapted into "Foxtrots", an electronic work part of my concept album Dis-appearances.