in the garden — string quartet (2026)
Commissioned by the Cramer Quartet as part of the Haydn: Dialogues project, made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature
for Caroline, duration 9 minutes
When Cramer Quartet approached me about their Haydn: Dialogues project, I immediately asked for Op. 77 No. 2. Written at the end of Haydn’s life, it was the last full quartet he completed.
Exploring the architecture of the places Haydn lived as an entry point, I was taken by Haydn’s well-preserved gardens, both at Eisenstadt and in the courtyard at Haydnhaus (where he wrote Op. 77 No. 2). I imagined sitting in the garden hearing Haydn try to unravel different cellular motifs that define his style, or the wafting sound of a string quartet tuning a particular chord progression in slow patience. I thought about him looking out the window at the patterns in the trees and hearing birds respond to themes, getting distracted by the sunlight to extend joyful moments stretching traditional forms and patterns.
Of course my ulterior motive was that one of my favorite string quartets by Caroline Shaw, Entr’acte, is also inspired by Haydn’s Op. 77 No. 2. Caroline writes, “I love the way some music (like the minuets of Op. 77) suddenly takes you to the other side of Alice’s looking glass, in a kind of absurd, subtle, technicolor transition.”
In my string quartet, in the garden, I bury Haydn’s motifs in the ground, let them pour down in the rain, hold onto them as they shudder in the wind, and stretch them out in the sunlight—blooming in resonance.
in the garden is dedicated to Caroline and her love of gardens and string quartets.