Cantus / 2026
string trio
audio ︎
score ︎
Performed by the S.E.M. Ensemble (Conrad Harris, violin, Liuh-Wen Ting, viola, Julie Kim, cello, & Petr Kotik, conductor)
In each measure, a three note figure is split between the three strings, creating a staggered, continuous line.
The phrases are shaped loosely, creating an ever-changing surface, subtly drifting and stretching anew with each measure.
The notes are sustained, entering with a swell, pronounced but not dramatic, then gradually fading to nothing.
The shape models the way I play electric guitar: plucking the strings with my volume knob down, masking the articulation, then carefully turning up the signal.
The shape also resembles the sound of singing in a reverberant space, where sung lines are rounded and blurred, perperpetuated through countless reflections.
Cantus, as the title suggests, evokes vocality.
The form of ‘cantus’ recalls the tenor line of some medieval motets, where long lines of liturgical chant were broken into cyclical three note phrases to create a lilting accompaniment for the motetus.
It remains unclear how, or if, the texts of these fragmented chant lines were sung.
They may have been sung without words.