Elena Ruehr: Mittelschwere Noten

An evocation of the sound world of Schubert's Sonatas, especially channeling Schubert's D959. The references to Schubert are sometimes direct, but often altered in slight ways to evoke the dreamy sens...

Elena Ruehr's first string quartet is an exploration of four distinct and storied ideas. The first movement, 'Patterns, ' may be performed on its own, and combines traditions of form, rhythm, and moti...

All four movements of this quartet have a basis in ancient traditional music from different parts of the world. The first movement's melody was composed on a small toy flute, making use of Middle East...

Each year the Cypress String Quartet selects two works from the standard quartet repertoire and commissions a third work based on inspiration derived from two older works. String Quartet No. 4 was wri...

A string quartet in ten movements based on the novel by Ann Patchett (Bel Canto), commissioned by and dedicated to the Cypress String Quartet. This piece takes one through the novel, develops its char...

Written for the Cypress String Quartet, partially commissioned by the Fromm Foundation, and dedicated to Todd Donovan. If there were a nickname for this quartet, it might be the 'Romantic Quartet. ' A...

Song of the Silkie (String Quartet No. 2) is a dramatic work for high baritone (or baritone and soprano, or mezzo-soprano, or countertenor) and string quartet. The work is based on a folk tale about a...

Commissioned as a piece that could be played by advanced amateurs, Prelude Variations is a single-movement work based on two Bach Preludes from the Well-Tempered Clavier.

Commissioned as a piece that could be played by advanced amateurs, Prelude Variations is a single-movement work based on two Bach Preludes from the Well-Tempered Clavier.