Foreign Tongues explores a different way of looking at the standard string quartet setup. Envisaged as a work where the cello is pitted against the rest of the string players, the piece aims to explore the idea of different languages communicating and interacting with each other, sometimes at the same time. This idea stems from my own multilingual and multicultural background and seeks to look at these interactions I experienced growing up. In a more general sense, the piece also acts to highlight the importance of multiculturalism and the need for open-mindedness towards other cultures. Daniel Kidane