Thank you, Jos and Paul, for your kind support as always. Jos, sometimes I wish I'd just wait to hear your comments prior to posting a description of my pieces, because I always prefer the way you describe things! You have a way with words as much as you do with music!
Paul, I'm not particularly a string quartet "fan", in that I've not specifically sought out quartets in my listening activities over the years. I should mention, perhaps something that might be surprising to fellow composers, especially in light of the mind set that we are all life long students of music; I have not actually listened to the works of great masters for the past 4 years in any signficant way. When I began composing full time, I knew that if I poured over scores and analyzed the contributions of the masters, I would be discouraged from writing and/or developing my own voice. Further making me an odd duck, my style has seemed to evolve completely separate from my musical influences, which I count Bach, Mozart, and Faure, among my favourites...of course, being an accordionist, there's also a ton of influence from many modern composers that few would know about. That said, your preferred quartets are obviously stellar choices and it's hard to argue with a love for melody :)
All the best,
Dave