Stato D’Animo – For String Quartet
Stato D’Animo was commissioned by the Smith Quartet and funded by a ‘Grants for the Arts’ award from Arts Council England.
The first performances by the Smith Quartet took place at St. Georges, Brandon Hill in Bristol on 3rd October 2006 and Aula Absidale, Bologna, in Italy on 1st February 2007.
As the title suggests (loosely translated as ‘State of Being’ or ‘Frame of Mind’), there was no obvious subject matter acting as inspiration for the piece, but I rather wanted to internalise and look a little deeper in responding to and trying to identify/react to my thought processes when I was writing. This was a particular area of interest for me at the time, in that I’m very aware of what feels like a sixth sense or a voice from my subconscious when I’m writing, and much of the time I just can’t fathom where the music comes from.
“It was one of the best received premieres we have held in recent years.”
Suzanne Rolt, Artistic Director at St. George’s
“James Barrett’s Stato d’Animo struck me as a highly impressive and accomplished work, full of fantasy and colour and written with an innate feel for the medium of the string quartet”
John Pickard, Composer, Senior Lecturer in composition at Bristol University, St. Georges Trustee
“It’s a considerable challenge for 21st century composers to find a way of writing for the traditional form of the acoustic string quartet. James Barrett has risen to the challenge and has produced a work which I think will delight audiences.”
Nick Capaldi, Arts Council England, South West Executive Director
