Lila Wildy Quillin: dialogue IV for solo double bass

About the Composition

“dialogue IV” is a solo work featured in a larger orchestral suite Invisible Cities, inspired by the novel of the same name by Italo Calvino. This solo represents one of many dialogues between the two main characters of Invisible Cities, Marco Polo and Kublai Khan, in which they discuss the character of various imaginary cities.

dialogue IV is for the most part entirely composed of partials on the E string, and the first half of the piece explores an expanding gesture using these partials as a palette. When the motif reaches its climax the bass turns its attention to a ghostly melodic line in the lower register, finally breaking away from the E string. The duality between the partials and the melodic lines at the end is a loose interpretation of the duality between the cities that Marco Polo and Kublai Khan discuss and the language that they use to discuss them.

About the Composer: 

Lila Wildy Quillin (b. 1999) is a Boston-based composer originally from the Atlantic coast of Maryland. Having spent much of her life investing in the visual arts, film, and architecture as well as composition, Lila is especially dedicated to exploring the relationships between music and other fields of design.

Currently, she is studying with Efstratios Minakakis and John Mallia at New England Conservatory, where she is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in music composition under the Presidential Distinction Scholarship. She has also studied with Michael Gandolfi at New England Conservatory and Dr. Judah Adashi at Peabody Preparatory, where she was the recipient of The Peabody Preparatory Achievement Award in Composition in 2016 and 2017.

She was the composer-in-residence for the 2018 Chamber Music by the Sea Festival and has attended the Zodiac Music Festival and Academy in 2019, Curtis Summerfest Young Artist Summer Program in 2016, and the Interlochen Arts Camp in 2015 for composition. She has been a finalist in the 2019 Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra Composition Competition and 2017 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards, as well as an Emerging Composer in the Tribeca New Music Competition in 2016 and 2017. Her performed works include numerous orchestral pieces, as well as vocal, chamber, and solo pieces.

In her free time, Lila enjoys studying piano and playing clarinet in various ensembles, as well as sketching and animating short films. She aspires to travel the world and collaborate with as many musicians and artists as possible, not only to have the chance to be inspired by cities around the world but also to explore all the intricate and compelling ways music can borrow from and communicate with art.