Four Meditations sur

For violin and viola

My purpose in leaving the title of 4 Méditations sur incomplete was to invite the listener to reflect on whatever the music might suggest but not to try to discover what I, the composer, may have had in mind in composing it. The music can be heard as a meditation itself or it might refer only to the mental and emotional state of the listener who is actively listening to it. The characters of the four pieces are very diverse; indeed two of them are quite lively, suggesting that contemplation can be about anything and that its purpose is not merely to induce a state of “suspended animation.” Bernini understood very well that strong emotions might accompany meditation when he depicted St. Teresa of Avila in a state of ecstacy in his famous sculpture. I will consider my 4 Méditations successful if it encourages heightened awareness in those who listen to it but a failure if it causes them to fall asleep!