Stylus is the third piece in an ongoing series of compositions based on J.S.Bach's The Art of the Fugue collectively entitled Spring Equinox. Stylus exists in two versions; the original version for tenor recorder (or flute or violin), viola and accordion and a subsequent arrangement for string quartet.

From the Composer

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I was intrigued by the possibility of changing the semantic continuity of Bach's music (Contrapunctus VII) by means of strategically-placed asymmetrical repetitions. In aural terms the effect is similar to that created by the skipping of the stylus of a record-player. By using repetitions within repetitions, phasing repetitions (where the left or right bracket advances or retreats by a sixteenth-note after each iteration), and by occasionally choosing similar beginning and end points which result in continuous melodic and contrapuntal flow within a loop, I sought to create a composition which parallels the original but nevertheless possesses a character and style of its own.