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

string quartet The term string quartet can refer 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 violinists ...

by the Israeli-born composer

Shulamit Ran Shulamit Ran ( he, שולמית רן; 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 th ...

. 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 wi ...

who first performed it on May 24, 2014 in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Composition

''Glitter, Shards, Doom, Memory'' pays tribute to the Jewish artist

Felix Nussbaum Felix Nussbaum (December 11, 1904 – August 9, 1944) was a German Jews, German-Jewish surrealist Painting, painter. Nussbaum’s work gives insights into the essence of one person among the victims of the Holocaust. Early life and education N ...

and other victims of

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

. 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 (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...

titled Glitter and Doom, which was formerly shown at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

Structure

The work is composed in four

movements Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...

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

Reception

Reviewing the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

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 Woolfe studied at Princeton University. Although he "had wri ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' 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 published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'' 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