Seeking Collaborative string ensemble

Hello, my name is Travis Sherwood, a Brooklyn-based songwriter and producer.

The piece:
I'm commissioning a string quartet composition, roughly 4-5 minutes, in A♭ major/F minor territory.
The piece is dedicated to my last conversation with someone I loved before we parted. The piece exists to hold that moment permanently.

Core reference:
Philip Glass — String Quartet No. 5, Movement III (Quatuor Molinari, 2023 recor ... ding on ATMA Classique — 6:02). This is the emotional and structural north star. Patient minimalist unfolding, long-breathed cantabile line in the first violin over a repeating harmonic bed, restrained dynamics throughout, unresolved emotional weight. I've listened to this recording many times. The way movement III sits in F minor / A♭ major territory with a mournful violin line over hypnotic middle voices is exactly the aesthetic universe I want the piece to live in.

Secondary reference:
Glass — String Quartet No. 5, Movement IV — for the comedown/dissolution quality. The way movement IV ends, without dramatic resolution, is what I want the ending of my piece to feel like.

I have MIDI mockups of what I'm hearing structurally. Four voices in A♭ major over 4 minutes at 120 BPM. Key features:
Violin 1 carries a long-breathed cantabile melody with a peak on C6 around bar 72
Violin 2 and Viola share a two-octave staccato/spiccato rhythmic pattern — E♭ + A♭ triplets, upper and lower octaves. This is the hypnotic engine of the piece. Steady triplet motion throughout the middle sections.

Cello provides foundation with harmonic movement through A♭ → Fm → D♭ → E♭, plus some expressive gestures (brief reaches upward, Lydian ♯11 color moments on the D♭ chord)
Structure: opening/establishment → melodic unfolding → peak with expressive intensification → dissolution comedown

Where I want your input specifically:

I'm genuinely open to changes. This is a collaboration, not an execution job. Places I especially welcome your instincts:
Voice leading and idiomatic string writing. My four-voice writing is a piano player's approximation of string music. I know it needs your ear to become actually idiomatic.

The rhythmic pattern in violin 2 and viola. I want it hypnotic and driving, closer to Glass's early ensemble works (Music in Similar Motion, Music with Changing Parts) than to Glass 5.3's smoother inner voices. But I trust you to know how much of that rhythmic density a real player can sustain, and how to work in breaks/breaths without losing the trance.

Quicker phrasing throughout. I want some moments — not the whole piece — where the melody or inner voices move with more urgency. Passages of quicker note values, more urgent phrasing, punctuated gestures. Amid the patient long tones, I want moments where the piece leans forward. Where these belong compositionally is your call.

The dissolution ending. I want the piece to disintegrate rather than resolve. How you achieve that — voice by voice dropping out, or dynamic fade, or something else — is open.

My Timeline: flexible, works around your schedule. If you can turn around a draft in 4 weeks that would be ideal, but I'm not rushing this.

Compensation: Let me know what would feel comfortable, I don’t have a lot but this piece means everything to me and want you to be fairly compensated.

I'm learning music theory and composition as I go. My instincts are strong but my technical vocabulary is still developing. Please don't be afraid to push back on things I've written that don't work idiomatically, or to bring compositional ideas I wouldn't have thought of. I'd rather have a great piece that includes your creative contribution than a lesser piece that stayed close to my original sketch.

If this resonates and you'd like to hear more, I'd love to jump on a call or send materials. If it's not the right fit for you, I completely understand.

Thank you for reading. Genuinely.

Best, 
Travis Sherwood

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