Review: Fung's 'String Quartet No. 4' at Aspen Music Fest
A new work from Canadian-born Californian Vivian Fung tested the musicians’ concentration with her String Quartet No. 4 “Insects and Machines,” debuted by this quartet in May and getting only its second performance. Inspired by the sounds of insects that buzzed around her on a walk in Cambodia, Fung merged those sounds with ambient city noise to create a tapestry of buzzing tremolos, shifting rhythms and swooping dynamics. It’s a stream of consciousness that should repay rehearing.
by Harvey Steiman