Wertschöpfung was commissioned by David Blake Werts and Charity Nicole Burnette for their wedding in September of 2006. Accordingly, I worked the musical letters of both names into the fabric of the piece, notably at the beginning and ending, as well as several points along the way. The name of the work is derived from their surname, "Werts," the German term "Wertschöpfung" meaning "creation of value." This title seemed appropriate to me because of the fact that the Werts family was being created at their wedding ceremony.The subtitle of the work translates as "Festive wedding postlude music for string quartet," and indeed I sought to create a festive mood, given the occasion for which the piece was composed. The work was premiered at the Werts' wedding by the Carolina Strings on September 17, 2006.
