Fluro Electric (2022)

for String Quartet

Duration: 7’

Commissioned by the Goldmund Quartet

First performed 19 May 2023, Elbphilharmonie Kaistudio 1, Hamburg, Germany, 9pm

Fluro Electric is inspired by two main ideas: the reflection of light through a single grain in a kaleidoscope and the electric energy of rock music. Throughout the work, the two ideas collide, conjuring up a rock show setting with a spectrum of bright lights and lasers, all refracted through a tiny grain of glass. I like to think of Fluro Electric as the little sister to my larger string quartet, Balderdash (2018). It opens with a shredding violin solo, before finding influence in an amalgam of rock, metal, folk and bluegrass. But most of all, it brings together all the things I think are wonderful about rock music and string quartets. There are big metal riffs, guitar-inspired violin lines, palm-muted unisons, and a collection of almost electronic-sounding pedal effects, including delay, phaser, and flanger.

The work was commissioned by the Hamburg-based Goldmund Quartet, winners of the 2018 Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, and premiered at the Elbphilharmonie in 2023.