''Glitter, Doom, Shards, Memory'' is the third

string quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...

by the Israeli-born composer

Shulamit Ran Shulamit Ran (; born October 21, 1949, in Tel Aviv, Israel) is an Israeli-American composer. She moved from Israel to New York City at 14, as a scholarship student at the Mannes College of Music. Her Symphony (1990) won her the Pulitzer Prize ...

. The work was commissioned by the arts organization Music Accord for the

Pacifica Quartet The Pacifica Quartet is a professional string quartet based in Bloomington, Indiana. Its members are: Simin Ganatra, first violin; Austin Hartman, second violin; Mark Holloway, viola; and Brandon Vamos, cello. Formed in 1994 by Ganatra and Vamos ...

who first performed it on May 24, 2014 in

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Composition

''Glitter, Shards, Doom, Memory'' pays tribute to the Jewish artist Felix Nussbaum and other victims of

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. Ran wrote in the score program note, “As in several other works composed since 1969, this is my way of saying, ‘Do not forget,’ something that I believe can be done through music with special power and poignancy.” The title of the piece comes from an art exhibit of works from the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

titled Glitter and Doom, which was formerly shown at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

Structure

The work is composed in four

movements Movement may refer to: Generic uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Movement (sign language), a hand movement when signing * Motion, commonly referred to as movement * Movement (music), a division of a larger c ...

: #That which happened #Menace #If I perish – do not let my paintings die #Shards, Memory

Reception

Reviewing the

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premiere of ''Glitter, Doom, Shards, Memory'', John Y. Lawrence of the ''Chicago Classical Review'' declared the piece "beautifully and thoughtfully crafted" and wrote:

Zachary Woolfe Zachary Woolfe is an American music critic who specializes in classical music. Since 2022 he has been chief classical music critic for ''The New York Times''. Education and career As a teenager in the 1990s, Woolfe discovered the online oper ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' also lauded the work, writing, "Ms. Ran's craftsmanship is, as ever, expert." Hannah Nepil of the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'' was more critical of the piece, however, remarking that it was "a little too clever, and too artfully fragmented for its own good." He added:

References

{{italic title Compositions by Shulamit Ran 2013 compositions Compositions for string quartet Commissioned music