''The Sun Was Chasing Venus'' is a composition for

string quintet A string quintet is a musical composition for five string players. As an extension to the string quartet (two violins, a viola, and a cello), a string quintet includes a fifth string instrument, usually a second viola (a so-called "viola quintet ...

by the British composer

Charlotte Bray Charlotte Bray (born 1982) is a British composer. Her work has been performed by The Royal Opera, London Sinfonietta, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, and BBC Symphony Orchestra. Biography Charlotte Bray was born in 1982 and raised in High W ...

. The work was commissioned by the violinist Daniel Hope and the Savannah Music Festival. It was first performed at the Savannah Music Festival on 3 April 2014 by the

Dover Quartet The Dover Quartet is an American string quartet. It was formed at the Curtis Institute of Music in 2008 and its members are graduates of both the Curtis Institute of Music and the Rice University Shepherd School of Music. Its name is taken from t ...

and violist Daniel Lee. Bray, Charlotte (2012)
The Sun Was Chasing Venus: Program Note
Retrieved August 5, 2015.

Composition

''The Sun was Chasing Venus'' is composed in a single

movement 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 co ...

and has a duration of roughly 15 minutes. Bray described the composition in the score program notes, writing: Additionally, Bray explained the title of the piece as "an abstract description of the work" that "represents the idea of a game of pursuit; musical lines chasing each other, out of which comes a sense of journey."

Instrumentation

The work is scored for a string quintet comprising two

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

s, two

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

s, and

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

Reception

George Loomis 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 ...

'' called the piece "a fine 15-minute work" and added, "there was much textural variety and ample evidence of the composer’s keen musical ear and stylistic rigour."

References

Compositions by Charlotte Bray 2012 compositions Compositions for string quintet {{chamber-composition-stub