"Simple tones were carefully twisted by gradually harsher dissonances, like the audio soundtrack to weeping tomatoes withering on their vine at 80 times the speed. As it progressed, you got the terrifying feeling you were listening to someone struggling to crack open Pandora's Box."

Dawn Stevenson, Guelph Mercury

"This work is comparable to Macbeth with its dark elements of suspense, tragedy and death."

Brandon Walker, Timmins Daily Press

"The piece perfectly sets the unhinged thoughts of a man about to kill his wife by using agitated motives interrupted by shaken chords and melodic lines that veer into unexpected territory."

Kraig Lamper, American Record Guide

"…a fascinating work reflecting on the Tolstoy story The Kreutzer Sonata and the Beethoven violin sonata that inspired it, with excerpts from the Beethoven appearing 'distorted' at various levels in the quartet."

Terry Robbins, WholeNote

"A superb release… By combining distorted fragments of Beethoven's work with passages that sound alternately oppressive, loving and empty, this intense work perfectly captures [the protagonist's] frenzied and hysterical emotional state."

Eric Hung, CAML Review

"The work's landscape is both dark and foreboding--as is the tale it embodies--with brief insertions of momentary respite. … This disc is a keeper."

Jerry A. Ozipko, Musicworks

"[Other works on the Penderecki String Quartet's "Launch Pad" CD] are not as powerful as the closing track, Jeffrey Ryan's String Quartet No. 3…Ryan uses melodic motifs to create feelings of love, jealousy, and madness, playing with themes from Beethoven to tie the music to the story."

Andrew Buziak, La Scena Musicale