Peter Vukmirovic Stevens

Music and art are a panacea, an antidote to the shifting ground beneath our feet. The interaction with music and art offers us a place to experience the most genuine interactions, interactions with ideas and views across time that sometimes lead back to ourselves.

My music is often created using musical narratives and stories. These narratives are composed of a palette of psychological states made to pull and push the listener’s senses. I seek to capture the essence of the consonances and dissonances in our lives and the times we live in.

— Peter Vukmirovic Stevens

Panacea was given to String Quartet No. 1, but it is a fitting title for this album of three string quartets.

String Quartet No. 1, Panacea

This three-movement quartet opens with a tremolo that builds and fades like an arc. This motif establishes the ground for the three movements.

The second movement begins with an ostinato in the cello, creating a steady momentum that underpins the overall structure. The ostinato returns towards the end to merge with the third movement. The other instruments respond with spacious, expressive melodies. At times, the cello and viola break off to create captivating duets.

The third movement starts with a rhythmic jolt. Unison arcs are introduced in the violins. The rhythmic drive presses on until the cello takes the lead with a stirring passage. Then the climactic section begins with expanding and contracting arcs until the energy gives way to the final section. The quartet concludes with a wide-open landscape, a plane that stretches out as far as the eye can see.

String Quartet No. 2, Stateless

The opening section portrays an upheaval and the wide-awake feeling that change is at hand. The music begins with a series of slowly shifting glissandi and timbres. The familiar is disintegrating, and we are in the midst of uncertainty. Suddenly, the first violin breaks through the surface like a flame in the dark. The four voices reorganize in an orchestral manner. The music is tumultuous and driving. The instruments maximize their sound and rush forward to conclude quiet and unresolved.

The first violin leads with rich melodies in the second movement, while the cello marks time with steady pizzicati, bringing a new sense of calm. As the music progresses, a quiet feeling of anticipation builds in the background. We are in a place of transit towards an unknown destination.

The third movement recasts the vibrant atmosphere of the first movement into a new and serene light. The previous upheavals are a memory. The music ascends towards a climax of buoyant energy and confident melodies before arriving at a succinct conclusion. The piece ends, but the story continues in the imagination.

String Quartet No. 3, Inter Nos

Inter Nos, Latin for between us, begins with a theme in minor in the first violin. After a few iterations of the theme, the first violin unexpectedly leaves the group to develop into a virtuosic cadenza. When the opening theme is reintroduced, it is quiet and ethereal. The movement ends with a deceptive gesture.

The second movement, in rondo form, starts with a soft, lyrical cascading sequence. This development section is understated; the instruments shine gently using spare chromatic themes. In the recapitulation, the opening cascading lines are restated in varied forms. As the cascades dissolve, a solo violin emerges, gently restating a previous theme.

The third movement starts with wild rhythmic sequences before shifting into a series of powerful chords and harmonic progressions. The quartet sound is maximized to create a vigorous wall of sound. We are in the throes of creative energy and performance. The music concludes with a resolute restatement of the first movement’s closing gesture.

Inter Nos is dedicated to one of my most influential teachers and a great artist, Bern Herbolsheimer. His passing in 2016 was, for me, like losing a parent. Inter Nos is composed in his spirit.