*this is a MIDI recording

Chapman Horn Quartet, Jenny Kim, director

Lizbeth Ramirez, Ari Castrellon, Michael Ma, Thomas Yamada

premiered May 6th, 2023

My second horn quartet, NOBILITY, was inspired by the old hunting horn calls and the classical style back in the 1700s. Horn calls were some of the earliest horn music I wanted to learn as a child. What also came to my mind when writing this piece was the elegance and class of the aristocrats back then, hence the nickname: NOBILITY. The next part of the piece features a slow dance to provide some contrast to the prior section. With this part especially, I experimented with moving away from traditional harmony and really trying to find my voice.

From Thomas’s Program Note