Composer’s Note:

Recess is about pleasurable motions, some of which we learned on childhood playgrounds. Spin plays with tiny musical fragments, spinning them like a top. Swing recollects the fleeting sensation sought from a playground swing, at the high end of the arc, where we feel a giddy moment of weightlessness. In Tag every motion is chased by another, not for the goal of winning, but simply for the fun of it. The optional electronic sounds consist of live manipulations of the quartet playing through a MAX patch. Recess is dedicated to the dazzling Eclipse quartet, who bring challenging but pleasurable musical motions to audiences and composers everywhere.