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    'Music is a human endeavour' – Michael Jarrell and his new work for the Arditti Quartet

    For Michael Jarrell, the world premiere of his new work at the Festival Musica in Strasbourg is a home game of sorts. Works of the Swiss composer have made the festival programme no fewer than 16 times over the last three decades, and every year since 2007. His new piece for the Arditti Quartet and Bamberg Symphony, however, was a special challenge. “For me, composing for a string quartet is like writing for an orchestra,” he explains. But then an idea came to him that kick-started the creative process and also provided the work with its title, Spuren (“Traces”). “The string quartet presents a musical idea and leaves behind traces, so to speak. The orchestra then functions as a screen onto which the string quartet’s musical ideas are projected and enlarged.”

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