Quartet No.1 was written in 2009 and premiered on May 13th of the same year in Rochester, New York. The work was largely inspired by the Emily Dickinson poem "There’s a Certain Slant of Light," published in 1890. The composer was deeply moved by the poem's elegance and at the same time by the immense weight that it bears from the presence of death. Although the music drew its inspiration from the poem's imagery and subject, it is not a narrative of the prose itself, but rather a reflection of its feeling. However, there are several elements in the piece which lend themselves to a more direct connection between text and sound.