This quartet is based on a song for singing cellist I wrote with and for my friend Miya Perry, to the following text:

Glory girl, did you forget your name

Did you believe in these grey droning halls

The sun still rises, the bay still ebbs

Nothing we lost is lost

Glory boy, did you forget your name

Did you believe in their sycophant calls

The moon still rises, the bay still flows

Nothing we lost is lost

Miya Perry

Initially, I set out to expand this song into material for a quartet with the simple goal of taking what I thought was a great tune and getting more mileage out of it. As I got farther into the piece, my relationship to the original song changed and grew. The song was always meant to be inspirational, a call to fight for hope–and win!–despite forgetting one’s own power, despite the powers outside us that would bring us low. Over time, the song has become an anthem for myself and the people I love. The battle cry for us to all to make it. To fulfill our purpose. We are all born to glory, and to glory we strive to return.

The first movement is a reimagining of the original song. I hoped to evoke the grandeur of heavy metal anthems along with a sort of off-kilter glee, that of facing the devil with a smile.

The second movement, Youth, quite fittingly is based on a very early piece for strings I wrote around 15. It is a portrait of joy, anxiety, and introspection. The central section sees the Glory theme developed, as the addressee of the poem begins to mature and learn to navigate the world.

The third movement represents, in the words of Robert Bly, the stage of “ashes”; going down into the depths of despair to emerge more fully fledged, more fit to fight through life’s strife. It is the heart of this quartet and was the outlet for an innermost grief.

The final movement is, in essence, battle music. A blistering, furious texture clashes with the Glory theme, only for the latter to emerge triumphant in the end. The forces of chaos are strong. They are beating down the door. But our glory-seeker has gone through the ashes and learned the ways of this world. Victory is assured. We were all born to glory, and to glory we shall return.