Kory Reeder composed Homestead (2024)—a nearly hour-long string quartet in four movements with an interlude—during his residency as Artist in Residence at Homestead National Historical Park in Beatrice, Nebraska in 2023. As he explains: "As a fifth-generation Nebraskan, growing up on the native lands of the Chatiks si chatiks people (Pawnee), this project is a part of my process of learning, listening, and developing a relationship with the land and its stewards in my home state: a beautiful place with a rich history that is as much a part of me as it is part of the settler-colonial project of displacement and genocide through the Homestead Acts."
The movement titles reference materials Reeder found in the park's archives: "Hymns: from a dog-eared book found in an unmarked box", "Sonata: from preserved quilts and fabrics", an "Interlude: Pax Americana", "Rondo: from several fragile plate negatives", and "Waltz: theme and variations from a hand-written fragment." The cover images were provided by the Homestead National Historical Park from the Reynolds family archive.
Reeder's approach to the string quartet is deliberately unencumbered by convention. As he notes: "I wasn't even thinking about [prominent venues]. I was thinking about I'm writing this album for the label Another Timbre. I'm writing for an album, so the live performance isn't crucial... The way I think about it is: How does this work as a record? How does it work as an album?" The movement titles deviate from classical-era quartets in their order and content, resulting in a highly individual work that pays homage to the history of the medium while refusing to be constrained by it.
Described as "one of the most captivating composers in modern classical music" (Dallas Observer), Reeder has produced over a hundred scores since 2017. His influences for this work range widely: Morton Feldman, Jürg Frey, Sibelius's Voces Intimae, John Luther Adams's Lines Made by Walking, Catherine Lamb, and Linda Catlin Smith and Cassandra Miller's string quartets on Another Timbre. This is Reeder's second release on the label, following Codex Vivere (2021), also performed by Apartment House.
