My String Quartets all have an element in common: an ascending line is present in each composition, their different musical languages notwithstanding.

This ascending motion is particularly discernible in the quartets’ final movements... 

It seems that each Quartet tells its own version of the same story, each in a different language.


After many returns, oppositions, and dramas, the final movement always appears as a liberation—a catharsis. 

Giacinto Scelsi