They Had Ceased to Talk (1975)

Composer note
They Had Ceased to Talk, for violin, viola, horn in F, and piano (1975)

I originally planned this work as a horn trio to be performed on the same concert with Brahms’ Trio in E-flat, Op. 40. In the early stages of composition, however, I changed it to a quartet which in its musical function is a modified trio. Recognizing that the acoustic balance between solo horn and solo violin is often tentative, I added the viola to bridge the timbres of these two instruments, actually combining it with the horn. The work is in one movement consisting of four sections. It is dedicated to hornist William Hoyt and pianist David Bishop. The title comes from Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse.

— Chester Biscardi