Music by Joel Feigin, performed by the Ciompi Quartet of Duke University Eric Pritchard and Hsiao-mei Ku, violins Jonathan Bagg, viola Fred Raimi, cello Recorded by Opus 1 Mobile Recording in Santa Barbara, CA Barbara Hirsch, recording engineer and editor In this work, the elements of a classical string quartet are fragmented like the polished stone of a mosaic. The piece is in two large movements (or panels) separated by a pause, but fragments of a lively and playful “sonata movement”, a lyrical slow movement and a fast, energetic rondo constantly interrupt each other, creating a mercurial and unexpected sequence of events. The first panel features the exposition and development of the D-major “sonata movement” interspersed with the B-major slow movement; the second panel combines the recapitulation of the sonata with elements of the rondo. Both panels begin with corresponding slow, atonal introductions, and both include a short lively movement not otherwise heard, at crucial central points. Mosaic in Two Panels is dedicated to the composer's wife, Severine Neff. About Joel Feigin: Joel Feigin’s compositions have been widely praised for their “strong impact, as logical in musical design as they are charged with emotion and drama.” (Opera Magazine). Feigin’s most recent opera, Twelfth Night, based on Shakespeare’s comedy, has been performed in North Carolina, Chicago, and southern California, where it was hailed as a “glittering masterpiece” by critic Dan Kepl. Previously, excerpts had been heard at New York City Opera’s VOX Showcase series and Opera America’s New Works Sampler. Feigin’s music has been extensively performed throughout Europe, Asia, and America. Mysteries of Eleusis, Feigin’s first opera, commissioned and premiered by Theatre Cornell, was produced again at the Moscow Conservatory while Feigin was there on a Fullbright Fellowship, and later at the Russian-American Operatic Festival. Other commissions include a Fromm Commission for Aviv: Concerto for Piano and Chamber Orchestra, written for Yael Weiss, piano works for Margaret Mills and Leonard Stein, two orchestral works for the Santa Barbara Youth Symphony, and many chamber works. CDs include Transience, a 2-CD set of his works on the North/South Recordings, as well as two major piano works performed by Margaret Mills in Meditations and Overtones on Cambria Master Recordings and by Robert Cassidy on Pathways on MRS Classics. Feigin’s large chamber work, Lament Amid Silence, has been recorded by violist Helen Callus. Dr. Feigin studied with Nadia Boulanger at Fontainebleau and with Roger Sessions at The Juilliard School. Early in his career, as an Aaron Copland-ASCAP fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, Feigin received the Dimitri Mitropoulos Prize in Composition. An accomplished pianist and accompanist, Feigin studied with Rosina Lhevine, and worked at the Metropolitan Opera in New York with Nico Castel. The Joel Feigin Collection at the New York Public Library of the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center opened in 2011. A student of Zen Buddhism, Feigin is Professor Emeritus of Composition at the University of California, Santa Barbara. About The Ciompi Quartet: The Ciompi Quartet was founded at Duke University in 1965 by the renowned Italian violinist Giorgio Ciompi. All its members are professors at Duke and play a leading role in its cultural life, in addition to traveling throughout the year for performances. In a career that includes many hundreds of concerts and spans five continents, the Ciompi Quartet has developed a reputation for performances of real intelligence and musical sophistication, and for a warm, unified sound that is enhanced by each player’s strong individual voice. With a maturity and insight born of wide experience, the Ciompi Quartet projects the heart and soul of the music, in a repertoire that ranges from well-known masterpieces to works by today’s most communicative composers.