“Reunion” is inspired heavily by the style of the Hungarian composer, Béla Bartók, and his string quartets. Bartóks' quartets use a variety of complicated rhythms, dense textures, and extended techniques for string players, such as the Bartók pizzicato, glissandos, and multiple stops. A large influence of his works come from taking the simple melodies of Bulgarian folk tunes and using additive layers of complexity to completely warp the traditional song.

To follow the style of Bartók, this piece was inspired by “Pilentse Pee”, which is a work of Bulgarian folk singing. That piece has two main melodies: One is choral, chant-like, and tonal which is usually held over a drone, and the other is a fast, rhythmic, and dissonant two-bar section in 9/16. These two ideas are repeated throughout the piece in variations from solo to full choir, tonal changes, and different voicings.

The idea of the title, “Reunion”, came from the ‘playing’ and ‘fighting’ nature between the string instruments throughout the piece. Almost as if each voice is a sibling in a family, there are interruptions, interjections, and compromises over who and when the melody gets to be played. There are times where there is unity and there are times where there is pure chaos, all of differing moods.