String Quartet No. 3
Composer: Soheil Shirangi
Read by: Mivos Ensemble, San Francisco State University — April 15, 2025
Movement I — Veins of Silence
Year of Creation: 2020 • Last Edit: 2024
String Quartet No. 3 is inspired by the profound depth and complexity of Beethoven’s late quartets—works that not only marked the culmination of his compositional journey but also redefined the very foundation of modern string quartet writing. Drawing especially from Op. 130–132, Shirangi reimagines their introspective, spiritual, and structural qualities through a contemporary lens.
The work is cast in five interconnected movements, each exploring a distinct facet of Beethoven’s influence: harmonic ambiguity, rhythmic subtlety, the dialogue among instruments, and the transformation of silence into sound. Minimalist repetition, gradual evolution, and shifting textures echo the unfolding processes of Beethoven’s late style while situating them within a modern language of expression.
Rather than imitating Beethoven, the composer enters into a conversation with his music—a contemporary reflection on timeless artistic questions. Through fragmentation, suspension, and renewal, the five movements trace a journey from quiet introspection to radiant transcendence, uniting intellect and emotion, reflection and spirit.
Ultimately, String Quartet No. 3 stands as both homage and response: a five-part meditation that bridges past and present, mind and heart, silence and sound.
Movements:
- Veins of Silence – Introspective and sparse; whispers of melody where silence shapes the structure, inspired by the solemn openings of Op. 131 and Op. 132.
II. Shadow Dance – Fast, restless, rhythmically unstable; echoes of dark humor and playfulness, a haunted scherzo of memory and motion.
III. Lament in Three Voices – Slow and deeply emotional; overlapping melodic lines form a chorale-like lament filled with spiritual gravity.
IV. Pulse and Pulse Again – Motoric and rhythmic; alternates between control and collapse, a study in precision and disintegration.
V. The Light that Listens – Gentle and dreamlike; suspended harmonies fade into openness, a sonic farewell where sound becomes silence.