ARC-EN-CIEL was written for Peter Sheppard Skærved and myself, and first performed at the British Museum in London. I have worked closely with Peter since 2006, when I joined the Kreutzer Quartet. One of our most performed pieces as a duo is Scelsi’s Arc-en-ciel – a fantastically economical piece, in which most of the material gravitates between D5 and E5. I took the opposite approach: ‘white’ comes from the natural resonance of pure fifths (the tuning of the instrument), splitting in colors as the fundamental gives rise to the harmonic spectrum. Similarly, a single bow stroke leads to techniques that showcase some expressive possibilities of the instrument. The title of the piece also refers to the overall shape/structure, arc-like both in terms of harmony, and phrasing.