Juan Arroyo
QUIPUS
für Streichquartett (2012)
for violin I, violin II, viola and violoncello
Duration: 12'
Instrumentation details:
violin I
violin II
viola
violoncello
QUIPUS
Sample pages
Video
Work introduction
Quipus means "links" in Quechua language. This term refers to a system still undecoded, based on the succession of nodes distributed along strings, used by the pre-Columbian populations. By associating the quipus with the acoustic theory of the vibration of the strings, I came up with the idea of translating the physical data of this object into music. Each movement thus explores the expressive capacities of transversal, longitudinal, torsion and octave vibration. Finally, the width and longitude of the strings allowed me to organize the frequency space as well as the interaction between the different movements.