Feather canyons (2023)
Notes
For string quartet
Written for the Sacconi Quartet
First workshop by the Sacconi Quartet at St. George's Church, Ivychurch,
June 15, 2023.
Duration: 4 minutes
Feather Canyons is a tribute to my love of the folk music of the ‘70s. The underlying concept guiding the piece came to me a few months ago, at a time when I was revisiting some of my favourite folk albums. The composition blends the intricate fingerpicking integral to the guitar playing during the era, with the expressive qualities of the string quartet, fusing the worlds of folk and classical. The title borrows one of my favourite lyrics from Joni Mitchell's ‘Both Sides Now’ — “Rows and flows of angel hair / And ice cream castles in the air / And feather canyons everywhere / I've looked at clouds that way.”