Sharaf: String Quartet No. 4

“Mattinata Memoire”

"A stream of consciousness amalgam of different writing styles as I responded to contrapuntal structure from earlier melodic writing, the "Andante" is cantabile, in a program music design, evocative of the Impressionistic period. I used varied timbres and harmonies to produce mood and color in sound. Built on a curve form, the melodic line ascends and descends in step-wise fashion with a precarious sense of unresolved dissonance. The "Allegro Assai" is an imitative scherzo stressing the horizontal contours of the melodic lines, the quasi-contrapuntal using resolved appoggiaturas. The Adagio is introspective, triste; a lyrical movement with constant use of minor sixth as a building block The "Vivace con Fuoco, Feroce" is a contrapuntal movement, highly cadential, that builds a chaotic impression in sonata-allegro form." - Frederic Sharaf