Light from Distant Stars (2005 / 2012)
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Wise Music
program note
i. Light from Distant Stars
ii. Processional
iii. Amen
In memory of Matthew Grant Cole
15 June 1972 – 22 January 2005
Matthew Cole was a violin student of my wife and a friend of us both. He was knocked off his bike on a morning ride in January 2005 and died at the scene. He was 32. The first movement of this string quartet, Light from Distant Stars, was written at short notice to be played at the funeral service. A sketch for another movement was written around that time but left unfinished. The Processional and Amen are based on that sketch, and in completing the work in 2012, I sought to be true to the original intention. The full premiere performance was given by the Yoong Han Ensemble at YST Orchestral Hall, Singapore on 21 September 2013.