Stringsongs
Stringsongs is a composition for string quartet by the American composer Meredith Monk. The work was commissioned by the Kronos Quartet who premiered the piece on January 22, 2005 in the Barbican Centre, London. Composition. "Stringsongs" was Monk's first composition for string quartet. She described her inspiration and the composition process in the score program notes, writing: Structure. The work has a duration of roughly 18 minutes and is composed in four movements: Reception. Reviewing the world premiere, Tom Service of "The Guardian" praised "Stringsongs", writing, "[Monk's] music sidesteps traditional string quartet forms to create a work  of mysterious, mythic power." Nadia Sirota of WQXR-FM similarly lauded, "Her first string quartet, the piece explores texture and raw emotion that achieves maximum impact with minimum components." The music critic George Hall was more critical of the music, however, calling the work "a more discursive four-movement piece that felt unwieldy."