Unruhe im Bienenstock | Live at Conservatorium Valencia | Mivos Quartet | 15 July 2025

Recorded on July 15th 2025 at the VIPA Festival in Valencia, Spain.
The premiere of "Unruhe im Bienenstock" was performed by the Mivos Quartet.

"Unruhe im Bienenstock" or 'Unrest in a beehive' is a short contemporary work in one movement for string quartet. The duration is about 5 minutes.
As the title reveals, the four string instruments are representing the buzzing and humming of restless bees in their hive. Correspondingly, this quartet is a work marked with the fast-paced tempo indication presto precipitato ma deciso – a pressing but determined presto.
All instruments play con sord. - with a mute - and partially place the bow on the fingerboard. Moreover, the buzzing tremolo is meant to be dense by using little bow and a little bit of pressure. Especially the sul tasto passages should be played at the very tip of the bow.
The ricochet elements are an extending effect to the buzzing sound. That technique should also be played with very little bow and with little bounce.
There is one more general note to the execution of this work: in order to guarantee a general buzzing effect, all four instrumentalists are required to play more or less with equal dynamics. Changes in loudness and energy are generally shaped by the entity of the quartet.

Видео Unruhe im Bienenstock | Live at Conservatorium Valencia | Mivos Quartet | 15 July 2025 канала christophe.mirkes