String Quartet No. 3 “Alan Turing”

Michael Oesterle

String Quartet No. 3 “Alan Turing” has been performed in London, Montréal, Ottawa, Saltspring Island and Toronto…

Many of my works are about my fascination with the lives of scientists. In these compositions I don’t attempt to give a precise outline or demonstration of any specific scientific theorem, they are simply the result of having been inspired by the force of concentration and creativity of scientists, their method of work and the frequency with which they meet society’s opposition. This string quartet was my first in a series of pieces about the British mathematician Alan Turing.

Alan Turing took a second hand violin and a sextant to Princeton University: the violin, to be like Einstein, the sextant to chart his course while aboard the ship that carried him there. He never learned to play the violin well, (his brother referred to his playing as “excruciating”) but he loved to play and played for those he loved. He played for his lover and later, for the officers who arrested him. He played as a declaration of faith in civilisation and the need to strive towards greatness of both heart and mind.


String Quartet No. 3 “Alan Turing” was titled Alan Turing — Solace for Irreversible Losses (Matter and Spirit; Delilah; The Universal Machine Concept; Acronyms; Morphogenesis; Hyperboloids of Wondrous Light) through 2020.

Premiere

  • April 20, 2010, Under the title Alan Turing — Solace for Irreversible Losses: Salon des compositeurs 2010, Homage Series Gilles Tremblay: I, Chapelle historique du Bon-Pasteur, Montréal (Québec)

String Quartet No. 3 “Alan Turing”

  • Composer(s): Michael Oesterle
  • Year of composition: 2010
  • Instrumentation: string quartet
  • Commission: Quatuor Bozzini, Société Radio-Canada (SRC)
Movements
Video
  • Interview: Michael Oesterle: Daydream Mechanics; Michael Oesterle: String Quartet No. 3 “Alan Turing”; Michael Oesterle: String Quartet No. 4; Michael Oesterle: Three Pieces for String Quartet; Bozzini Quartet; Michael Oesterle; In English, French; March 2022
On disc
Concerts
20 Apri 2010
8:00 pm
Série QB
I
OesterleSmithTremblay
In person Free admission
Montréal (Québec)
13 Marc 2011
2:30 pm
JankeMillerOesterle
In person
Saltspring Island (British Columbia, Canada)
24 July 2011
11:00 am
LisztOesterle
In person
Ottawa (Ontario, Canada)
1 Apri 2012
1:00 pm
BrittenOesterleStravinsky
In person Free admission
Montréal (Québec)
3 Apri 2012
7:00 pm
BrittenOesterleStravinsky
In person Free admission
Montréal (Québec)
5 Apri 2012
8:00 pm
BrittenOesterleStravinsky
In person
Toronto (Ontario, Canada)
26 July 2012
6:30 pm
MillerOesterleVivier
In person
Montréal (Québec)
18 Apri 2013
8:00 pm
Série QB
CraneHarmensMcKinleyOesterle
In person
Montréal (Québec)
23 Febr 2022
7:30 pm
Série QB
JohnsonLizéeOesterleTan
In person
Montréal (Québec)
23 Febr 2022
7:30 pm
Série QB
JohnsonLizéeOesterleTan
Online event Live
Montréal (Québec)
24 Febr 2022
30 June 2022
Série QB
JohnsonLizéeOesterleTan
Online event
24 Marc 2022
8:00 pm
CheungLizéeOesterleTagaq
In person
Toronto (Ontario, Canada)
1 July 2022
31 Dece 2022
Série QB
JohnsonLizéeOesterleTan
Online event
3 Dece 2022
7:00 pm
BarryMillerOesterle
In person
London (England, UK)