(Available for premiere or recording)

What if Bartok, the best known of string quartet composers in the 20th century, had been able outlive his last illness and continue in the new world?  Where might he have found new ideas for quartets no. 7, 8, etc, furthering the craft of this exceptional form?  

The Eternity Quartet can be regarded as a continuation of Bartok’s own remarkable compositional approach, combining dissonance with listenability in the modern age.  Conceived for 5 movements, each has its own unique atmosphere and can stand alone in performance, from an energetic opening recalling Bartok #4, to the ethereal stillness of the closing movement, always mindful of Ostling’s own previous effort. 

Regarding the predecessor, String Quartet #1 was premiered by both the Muir and Manhattan String Quartets, including a Louisville Chamber Music Society program in between Shostakovich #4 and Beethoven Op. 132.  From program notes by Professor Emeritus Dr. Robert Weaver, the earlier work “stands the confrontation without apologies…Ostling has written a profound, moving veneration of Bartok…”  (Dr. Weaver's complete program notes are available here.)

‘Eternity’ aims to continue this veneration on a new level entirely, heading into the music of our time.  It is looking for its first home, so I've posted a little bit about it here, as something of an advertisement to a willing group up for the effort.  To all such candidates, get back to me if there's interest or questions on your part, and good luck with your endeavors in any case.

Eric Ostling

The following samples were created in Sibelius, to correspond to the available PDFs of the working sheet music draft in place.

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