“Company” is the name of a short novel by Samuel Beckett which was adapted for the stage and performed as a monologue by Frederick Neumann. Mr. Neumann had asked and received Beckett’s permission to use an original musical score which I was commissioned to compose.

I liked the idea of using the medium of the string quartet that would allow for both an introspective and passionate quality well suited to the text. Beckett picked four places in the work which he referred to as the “interstices as it were.” Not surprisingly these four short movements have turned out to be a thematically cohesive work which now, as my String Quartet No. 2, has taken on a life of its own. —Philip Glass