Neo Gaelic Dances for String Quartet

This piece was written for the Smith Quartet in early 2019 in response to a call for scores sent to the Masters students of Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. After several abortive attempts to create a piece, I finally landed on an idea inspired by the Gaelic Fiddle music of the Shetland Islands, having been encouraged to listen to the music of that region by Soosan Lolavar.
 
The piece is in a loose ternary form with a coda, and features a recurring rhythmic motif that I have engineered in various ways - modulating rhythmically and with altered harmonies.