Gloria Coates (born 1938)
Gloria Coates was born in Wausau, Wisconsin. Some of her earliest musical experiences involve singing at rallies for her politician father.
In her compositions, Gloria Coates usually restricts herself to a limited palette of timbres and materials. Her music is minimalist, yet it tends to be structured in canons rather than repetitive figures. She is quite fond of string glissandi and sometimes uses quarter tones. Her music often moves slowly but achieves an eerie beauty.
Gloria Coates has lived in Munich since 1969, and her music tends to be performed more in Europe than the United States. Among a variety of orchestral and chamber works that she has composed are 16 symphonies and 10 string quartets. Most of her symphonies and string quartets have been recorded and some are available on YouTube, but live performances on YouTube are much rarer.
Here is the third (and final) movement of her String Quartet No. 5 from 1988, entitled In the Fifth Dimension, but it’s worthwhile checking out the entire work.