For string quartet
String Quartet
No. 8 · Sylvia’s Diary
Lera Auerbach’s eighth numbered string quartet, Sylvia’s Diary, is a thirty-five-minute chamber work for two violins, viola and cello, shaped as six diary entries with a final epilogue, written in honour of Sylvia Plath.
Commission
Commissioned by Hanson Institute for American Music of the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester.
Premiere
17 November 2013. Rochester — Ying Quartet.
Form
Six Entries from a Diary. A chamber sequence of confession, unrest, dream, defiance, possession, prayer and cosmic silence.
Six Entries from a Diary
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Andante libero “I May Never Be Happy, but Tonight I am Content”
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Agitato molto “I am Tempted to Write a Poem, but…”
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Andante sognando “What is More Wonderful…”
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Allegro ma non troppo, marcato molto “And what am I Against so Many?”
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Allegro moderato e scuro “I Have This Demon…”
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Moderato con moto e marcato energico “With Me The Present is Forever…”
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“I Talk to God, but the Sky is Empty…”
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Epilog “…And Orion Walks by and Doesn’t Speak”
Work Information
Six Entries from a Diary
String Quartet No. 8
Ying Quartet.
Agitato molto — “I am Tempted to Write a Poem, but…”
Andante sognando — “What is More Wonderful…”
Allegro ma non troppo, marcato molto — “And what am I Against so Many?”
Allegro moderato e scuro — “I Have This Demon…”
Moderato con moto e marcato energico — “With Me The Present is Forever…”
“I Talk to God, but the Sky is Empty…”
Epilog — “…And Orion Walks by and Doesn’t Speak”
Composer’s Note
“Portraits of my favourite poets used to hang on the wall beside my desk in my study. One day, I realised that many of them had either died by suicide or had been drawn toward self-destruction — Pushkin, for example, repeatedly sought out duels. How could it be that these extraordinarily subtle souls, who have given so much beauty and joy to others through their literary works, could despair so deeply of their own lives?
Suicide remains a taboo subject in our society. Yet more people die by suicide every day than by war or many diseases. In my search for understanding, I came across the diaries of Sylvia Plath, who took her own life at the age of thirty, at the height of her poetic career. I wrote my String Quartet No. 8, Sylvia’s Diary, in honour of Sylvia Plath.”
Context
String Quartet No. 8 “Sylvia’s Diary” follows String Quartet No. 7 “Désir” in Auerbach’s numbered quartet cycle. The progression moves from desire toward the written trace of inner life: a diary, a page, an unfinished thought, a voice addressing emptiness.
- Diary A chamber form built from private utterance and fragmentary confession.
- Sylvia Plath Written in honour of the poet and her diaries.
- Ying Quartet First performed in Rochester by the Ying Quartet.
Publisher and Materials
Published by Sikorski / Boosey & Hawkes. The score and parts for this chamber work are available through the official Boosey & Hawkes / Sikorski work and purchase pages.