Beth Anderson
January Swale
Year: 1995
Duration (in minutes): 5'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, string ensemble, string quartet
Instruments: cello, viola, violin
Description: First performed by the Clearwater String Quartet. This is a swale that includes a lot of partying framed by a theme going forwards at the beginning and backwards near the end, a Janus. Because it was written with cellist Carol Buck and her children, there is a small children's theme just after the introduction which runs in and out later on in the piece. An aeolian alleluia interupts and returns later a half-step down. It ends with a feeling of a "starry night" at the original tonal center.