Bittersweet

Adam Gorb's Bittersweet for Piano Quartet.

Bittersweet written in 1999 for the Schubert Ensemble’s Chamber Music 2000 project is one of the hardest challenges I’ve ever had. I must have made at least five false starts before I felt I was beginning to get on the right track. What I
wanted was something musically sophisticated that has a certain amount of substance in a mere three minutes, but at the same time is appealing to an audience relatively unfamiliar with new music. I also wanted to make the piece playable for gifted youngsters and amateurs. The musical language of Bittersweet is diatonic with ‘wrong notes’ and is based on small motives that makeup a melody in five-four time that I eventually couldn’t get out of my head. - Adam Gorb

Commissioned by Colin Senior for Meg.