(visit http://www.carlschimmel.com to purchase score and parts)
This is the 3rd movement of my String Quartet #1, but can function as a stand-alone work.
"Melencolia I" is the title of an engraving by Albrecht Dürer. It depicts an angelic figure pondering a variety of mathematical, scientific and geometric objects. To the right is a “magic square,” a 4 x 4 collection of the numbers 1 through 16 whose rows, columns, and diagonals all add to the number 34. The two numbers in the middle of the bottom row indicate the date of the work: 1514. The music is entirely constructed using melodic lines derived from the rows, diagonals, and columns of the magic square.
