In the middle of writing Red, it occurred to me that a series of color-based pieces for string quartet might not be a horrible idea. Not knowing how long it would take for me to get around to more, though, I decided not to announce the idea at the time. Even now might be a bit premature, as I don't know if two quite qualify as a series.
Still, the intent is there. I thought that Yellow would be the second installment (and I even have the bare inklings of concepts for Blue and White),but I got an idea for Black a couple weeks ago; when I got back to working on it last Saturday, I ended up completely throwing out what I'd written up to that point, retaining only the tempo, time signature and the key of G minor, albeit with a strong octatonic flavor (Red is strictly octatonic, centered on E).
A long weekend, courtesy of a medical test (I passed!) and Mardi Gras (which I once more successfully avoided) gave me enough relatively uninterrupted time to pretty much finish it yesterday, except for a few minor tweaks earlier today, which I guess makes this a Lenten piece -- maybe it should be Purple instead of Black, but it was written as Black so that's what it is.
Still, the intent is there. I thought that Yellow would be the second installment (and I even have the bare inklings of concepts for Blue and White),but I got an idea for Black a couple weeks ago; when I got back to working on it last Saturday, I ended up completely throwing out what I'd written up to that point, retaining only the tempo, time signature and the key of G minor, albeit with a strong octatonic flavor (Red is strictly octatonic, centered on E).
A long weekend, courtesy of a medical test (I passed!) and Mardi Gras (which I once more successfully avoided) gave me enough relatively uninterrupted time to pretty much finish it yesterday, except for a few minor tweaks earlier today, which I guess makes this a Lenten piece -- maybe it should be Purple instead of Black, but it was written as Black so that's what it is.
