William Toutant was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. He earned his BA and MA from The George Washington University and his Ph.D. in music theory and composition from Michigan State University. In 1975, he joined the faculty of California State University, Northridge, where he taught in the Department of Music and held a variety of administrative roles, including Dean of the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication.
For eighteen years, Toutant wrote and hosted the weekly radio program The KCSN Opera House. He became Professor Emeritus in May 2013. His compositions are available on North/South, Capstone, Centaur, Phasma, Ariel, and Navona Records. He resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Ligia Toutant.
Quarantine Quartet
I wrote this piece during the quarantine/lock down order caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The piece reflects my varied emotions during this time of enforced confinement.
Structurally, the piece consists of a germ motif heard at the beginning and a short theme that begins with the ascending sixth of the germ motif. This short theme is immediately fragmented and imitated among the four instruments.
There are two slower fugato sections; the subject of each is a rhythmic variant of the short theme. In the second fugato, each entry of the subject is varied rhythmically.
At the end of the piece each of the three ideas (the first theme and the two fugato subjects) is played successively in stretto. Near the end of the piece, all three ideas are twice played simultaneously. The opening motif is heard at various points in the piece and very prominently at the end.