Viertes Streichquartett op. 86 (2014–2015)

For composer Thomas Daniel Schlee, the “intimate sound possibilities of the string quartet” have the potential “to formulate an, albeit ‘only’ individual, solution to the somewhat forlorn condition of new art music within society that we are unfortunately experiencing today.”

Schlee’s Fourth String Quartet opens with a pure C major sound, out of which he develops a harmonically free band of voices: “The pure as a source, not pleasing”! After a melodically dominating episode and a continuation of the “swinging tone-motion from the beginning”, a thematically solidified section follows. It is met by a second, more extensive melodic episode, followed by a “nightly scene”. Coming full circle, the opening music of the piece finds its continuation, leading into a lament – first articulated by the ensemble, then finally as “the viola’s long, forlorn search for the melody symbolizing a farewell.”