Premiere: The Stanford String Quartet, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, January 25, 1989. Recorded by same on Laurel Record (LR-847). Bolcom uses a symmetrical arch form: sections I-VIII are mirrored, in reverse, by sections X-XVII, with the strangely antique (Bolcom) section IX being the keystone movement. Thus, section I has a counterpart in section XVII, II in XVI, and so forth. It is dedicated to his composition teacher at Stanford University, Leland Smith. In 17 short, connected movements.