Aurochs and Angels

Date of Composition: 1990/2000

Duration: 11'

Category: Small Ensembles (3-5 players)

Instrumentation: String Quartet

Aurochs and Angels was written in 1990 and revised in 2000. I had been abandoning string quartet ideas for many years, the medium's tradition a barrier so i was delighted when this one took hold. The title comes from the end of Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita , a beautiful metaphor for the twin poles of eternity.
The angels are probably clearer than the aurochs (an extinct specie of oxen), but this would be my preference in music as well as people.