World premiere: May 1999 by Alexandra du Bois, violin, Brian Snow, cello, and Mang Wang, double bass, Pickman Hall at the Longy School of Music, Cambridge, Massachusetts...Read more
Arrangement of a Croatian Bugaršćica first notated and transcribed by Petar Hektorović in 1568. Commissioned and premiered by Apollo Chamber Players, Houston, Texas, 2016...Read more
Behind Rainbows is Alexandra du Bois' fifth string quartet. Commissioned by Kronos Quartet/Kronos Performing Arts Association (KPAA), the San Francisco-based non-profit organization of the Kronos Quartet, for 50 for the Future: The Kronos Learning Repertoire, a string quartet commissioning, performance, education, and legacy project of unprecedented scope and potential impact. Kronos Quartet has commissioned Alexandra du Bois' 1st, 3rd, and 5th string quartets. Read more
Commissioned by the Apollo Chamber Players
World premiere scheduled for April 2016, Houston, Texas
Introduction: Out of sea-mist, in medias res
(Aria: Adagio lugubre)
I. Istria: Hrvatska Obala (Croatian Coast)
(Rondo: Allegro assai)
II. Uspavankas (Lullabies)
(Waltz: Larghetto cantabile) (attacca)
III. Dalmatian Hinterland
(Scherzo: Allegro pesante con fuoco) (attacca)
IV. Tempo di Gusle
(Finale: Presto all’ungherese)
...Read more
Text by Daniel Varoujan
Written in observance of the 100th commemoration of the Armenian Genocide in 2015
Score/parts available
...Read more
Commissioned by Kronos Quartet
Inspired by the life and writing of young Dutch writer and Holocaust victim Etty Hillesum (1914-1943)
In creative preparation for writing the quartet, Alexandra du Bois traveled throughout The Netherlands and Poland after receiving grants from The Netherland-America Foundation and Indiana University to travel in the footsteps of Etty Hillesum
World premiere: March 2006, Kronos Quartet, Dinkelspiel Auditorium at Stanford University, Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall...Read more
Commissioned by Kronos Quartet. Arrangement of a Sardinian lament originally for men’s choir
World premiere: May 2007, Kronos Quartet, Carriage House Theatre at Villa Montalvo, Saratoga, California
Score/parts available...Read more
World premiere: February 2004, Kuttner Quartet, Indiana University’s String Quartet-In-Residence; Shin-Young Kwon, Eriko Tsuchihashi, violins, Daniel Stewart, viola, Jocelyn Butler, cello, Ford Hall at the Indiana University School of Music, Bloomington, Indiana; New York Premiere: 2008, Arbor Mundi Music Ensemble’s Miranda Cuckson, Boris Kupesic, violins, Diane Leung, viola, Saeunn Thorsteinsdottir, cello, The Stone, New York City
Score/parts available...Read more
Commissioned by the Kronos Quartet as part of the first Kronos: Under 30 Project
World premiere: April 2003, Kronos Quartet, Spaulding Auditorium at the Hopkins Center at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire; Detroit Premiere: 2007, New Music Detroit, Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit; New York Premiere: 2008, JACK Quartet, Carnegie Hall; Los Angeles and Hanoi, Vietnam premieres: 2010, Southwest Chamber Music
Commercial Release: 2013, Kronos Quartet, Judith Sherman, producer, recorded at...Read more
Commissioned by the Savannah Music Festival World premiere: March 2013, Simon Crawford-Phillips, piano, Benny Kim, violin, Carla Maria Rodrigues, viola, Camden Shaw, cello, Joseph Conyers, double bass, Lucas Theatre, Savannah, Georgia. Dedicated to family friend Timothy O’Brien (1957-2012) and elephant whisperer Lawrence Anthony (1950-2012) I. Altocumulus lacunosus: Boundaries (Adagio) II. Cumulus humilis: Interlude (Andante) III. Cumulonimbus: Journeys (Allegro) IV. Altocumulus castellanus - cirrus castellanus: Memories (Larghetto) V. Cirrostratus fibratus: Sunshowers and cumulonimbus (Andante) VI. Altocumulus lenticularis: Memorials...Read more