Nebulous Beauty

Nebulous Beauty (2025) was inspired by Surrealist artist René Magritte's "The Secret Life" and explores the myriad forms of beauty found in unexpected places and combinations. As observed across Magritte's oeuvre, this work utilizes juxtaposition, playfulness, layering, deceptiveness, change of scale, transformation, and delight to construct the notion of Surrealist beauty, which was contemporaneously articulated by poet Isidore Ducasse as "the chance meeting on a dissection table of a sewing machine and an umbrella." Nebulous Beauty celebrates diverse expressions of beauty through the varied and intricate sounds of the string quartet, weaving a tapestry of harmonious and dissonant elements. Through rich textures and fleeting gestures, the composition invites listeners to discover and appreciate the hidden beauty in the mundane and the extraordinary alike. Thank you to the Thalea String Quartet for premiering this work and for their continuous support of new music.