Gala Dances

Waltz
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A cowled violinist says, "Slaves and sufferers, the Enigma Waltz."

The string musicians raise their bows and watch the pianist for their cue, their sleeves falling back to reveal scarred and blackened limbs.

Discordant layers of notes herald the overture, accentuating the downbeat in three-time, then a rallentando leads to an expectant pause on a diminished cadence.

Dramatic chords underpinned by a swathe of strings pick up the regular beat, the quartet settling into the waltz with an unsettling melody.

Creating an eerie counterpoint melody, the violinist masterfully strikes shrill overtones with long, fluid bow movements.

The viola player picks up the contorted notes from the violinist, mimicking the whining descents down unearthly scales.

Swerving suddenly to a major key, the waltz takes a pathetically hopeful turn, the violinist retaining a solo line but the viola subsiding to muted harmony.

Forthright transposing chords from the piano drive the waltz back to its grand central theme, conspiring with the cello to pick up the pace in a crashing chord progression.

Swaying as they collude to hasten the waltz, the quartet crescendos through an accelerating passage with heavy downbeats.

A strident interval of fifths and strong vibrato from the strings concludes the waltz, the four musicians falling silent as their instruments are lowered.

Foxtrot
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A cowled violinist says, "A foxtrot...if you dare."

An macabre blast from the piano opens the foxtrot, complex chords swinging through the central
melodic theme.

In perfect unison, the string musicians begin to play, separated octaves marking out the main melody
then splitting into a minor harmony.

Crisp and regular, the foxtrot's quick tempo is strictly maintained by the quartet, the pianist
driving the beat onwards.

Obnoxious ad libbing by the viola carves through the rapid, swung beat of his collaborators.

Picking up the viola's challenge, the violinist adds his own grisly brand of extemporizing to the
melody, a faint stain of red marking the piano keys as his challenged, raw fingers bleed on the
instrument.

Changing tack, the strings decrescendo to an eerie mix of overtones, repeating the main theme in the
ghoulish key signature with unhealthy glee.

Louder now, the quartet switches up the key and the melody swings loosely along with accentuated
downbeats.

Fourth intervals battle feverishly, the piano and viola pitting themselves against each other in a
bid to add musical complexity to the dance.

Adding a swinging counterpoint descant, the violinist hounds the piano and viola back to their core
parts as the foxtrot steadily moves along.

Rushing together into a final, pristinely augmented chord, the quartet concludes the foxtrot and
lowers their instruments in total silence.

Tango
------

A cowled violinist says, "Attention. Find your partners, quickly now."

Expectant silence becomes the heady prelude to the tango, the musicians lifting their instruments
and preparing to commence.

The tango begins quietly with a shifting, atonal melody playing over an insistent deep thrum from
the strings of the cello.

The higher tones of the smaller string instruments slither painfully across the register,
insistently shrieking above the relentless cello.

Commanding the tango's direction, the cello strikes rhythmically under the shivering viola, then
drops away briefly to the dangerous hush of plucked strings.

Taking charge, the piano demands control of the dance from the cello with a virtuoso burst that
traverses the length of the keyboard.

Furious flair grips the pianist, the cowled figure forcing the others to silence as it carries the
tango solo in shuddering, complex chords.

Daringly, the violinist slides down its register and seizes dominance, the tango gathering speed
with the end nigh.

The tango rushes towards one glorious, cringing cadence to end the dance. Not to be outdone though,
the viola forces the group to repeat the final few bars, blitzing the air with screeching notes.

Left to its own devices as the rest of the group lowers its instruments, the viola player winds its
fit of notes down to quiet, sobbing draws of the bow, and then gentler still to end on a fading
musical question mark.

A final, unexpected retort on the piano provides a marked ending, the tango concluded.

Quadrille
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A cowled violinist says, "It seems we are required to play a quadrille. As you wish."

Determinedly precise, the quartet neatly marks the commencement of the quadrille with repeating
fifths in a perfect cadence.

Each musician renders a passage of lyrical staccato notes in pristine unison, then settles into
legato, wholesome chords.

A familiar air weaves through the first quadrille movement as the cello breaks away from the quartet
into a impassioned solo, tipping into the second movement with a brief cadenza.

Bright and breezy, the ensemble launch into a mirrored motif, with the major key swerving briefly to
a minor interlude, then returning.

Gradually crescendoing, the cello bravely adopts a sostenueto continuo under the rondo, broadening
the quartet's swathe of sound.

The nostalgic viola, its timbre enlivened with vibrato, shifts in tandem with the cello a third
above, bringing the third passage to a question mark on a suspended cadence.

Swelling notes from the depths of the piano encourage the violinist to burst into life, ushering in
the trenitz movement with virtuoso glissades.

Magnificently sotto voce, the four musicians continuously chip in to sustain the pastourelle melody
one instrument at a time.

A grand flourish from the violinist, mimicking colluratura, leads into the sixth and final movement
of the quadrille, the lively dance quickly accelerating.

Resolving back into the initial strident cadence, the quartet marks the end of the quadrille with a
sustained chord, then suddenly rips into a frenzy of atonal notes as though disgusted by their own
music. The quartet lapses into sullen silence.