PLAYING CARDS

For String Quartet

Duration: 10'
Instrumentation: string quartet
Written for: Mivos Quartet
Premiere: Hateiva, Tel-Aviv, June 2022

PROGRAM NOTE

Playing Cards was conceived as I was looking to compose a new piece that will also function as a game - including earning points, winning, losing, laughing and being surprised. I wanted to give the performers a performance experience that is driven not only from the music, but also from the playfulness of trying to win a game. That way, performing the piece would not only mean playing well, but also involve tactics, strategies, quick thinking, and a lot of fun.

As sometimes happens, some of these plans found their way to the piece - while others did not. Earning points will have to wait for another piece, but some other playful elements from the plan did survive.

Playing Cards is a different piece in each performance. The order of the movements, as well as some techniques and specific notes, are determined by drawing a card from a pack of playing cards, that is done prior to each movement. This way, the performers get some of the information right before they play the piece, and the audience witnesses the process of drawing the cards and preparing to play under the resulting instructions.

The piece was written for the wonderful Mivos quartet, which are also responsible for some of the inspiration for the piece. The recordings on this page are played by Mivos, and are taken from two separate performances of the piece.