String Quartet No.10 - 'Circle Dances'

String Quartet No.10
in 6 movements - duration 24:15

Whilst writing this composition I had a vision of young couples in traditional costume holding hands and dancing in a circle. Not only did they dance the lively, joyful tunes but they also danced the more sorrowful ones by slowing down their movements as if in slow motion.
The types of dances included are - Sarabande, Allemande, Gavotte, Irish Jig, Gigue, Sephardic Hora and a Ukrainian Dumka. The Dumka (Ukrainian Lament) was taught to me by my Ukrainian family when I visited them in 1994, shortly after the end of the Soviet era. It is also included in my Symphony No.2. The poignancy of the lament at the end of the six-movement work serves as a reminder of the Ukraine that has been lost to intolerable violence, stupidity and force.