Experience

Wishart, Betty

About the work

“Experience” reflects a personal ordeal in which the composer looked deeply into the abyss, but emerged whole: deeply scarred but distinctly a survivor.

First Performance: Moyzes Quartet, Slovakia

Technical notes

Also available as a string quartet in which viola parts are accessible to good amateurs. Slow, sustained intensity. Gradually unwinding melodic strands grow from quiet opening into greater activity and final climactic gesture of release. Non-tonal work, uses pizzicati, sul ponticello, and glissandi.