Rush

Matthew Hindson's Rush for guitar and string quartet takes its influence from the music of Felix Mendelssohn. The fast and technically challenging passages found in the final movement of the Mendelssohn String Octet influenced Hindson's decision to compose a work for the Goldner String Quartet that is highly virtuosic in nature. Hindson remarks, "it is much more the spirit of Mendelssohn's string writing that was influential, particularly the last movements of his string quartets and the String Octet, rather than any sort of harmony or melodic invention."



This nine minute piece also features the playful, up-beat and repetitive rhythms found in popular music. The fast and mostly accelerating tempo of Rush reinforces both the title of the piece and the influence of 'techno' music. Rush also features a series of catchy and vibrant melodies, making the work accessible to a wide audience. Although the piece is scored for guitar and string quartet, it is regarded by Hindson as a guitar quintet, where the guitarist and the string quartet are treated not as soloists performing with accompaniment, but as integral and equally important entities in the work as a whole. The guitarist and the instruments comprising the quartet each have the opportunity to assume the playful motifs and feature as virtuosic soloists.