Performed by duoDorT (studio recording), 2010. This work is a study experimenting with a
number of parameters, such as polyphony, just intonation and process. The
latter stems from what has been a long fascination in the visual counterpoint
that we encounter every day, be it the interweaving cyclic structure when
passing a gasometer, observing a hanging mobile or the movement of celestial
bodies. Furthermore I've been keen
to work with perception of distance and speed, such as when travelling how
distant objects appear to be static and then accelerate as we pass these by.
Part of the ongoing challenge has been how to interpret these ideas into music
to which this work exhibits my attempt so far. Performed live by the Pegasus Choir, Grosvenor Chapel, December 2009. This
work is a response to Handel's The People Walked in Darkness where the melodic
line has been elongated, embellished and juxtaposed against itself. From this
we hear indeterminate washes of sound within which moments of unison and
harmony break through that tie to a central concept of the Messiah - from
darkness comes light.
Performed live by Banff Centre winter residency artists, The Banff Centre, Canada, 2004. This work is the
product of a collaboration in 2001 with the cellist Verity Harding who requested
a piece that would showcase the instrument within the context of a string
quartet. With the challenge set I began exploring ideas that would best serve the
cello as the central protagonist of the work. I then happened upon the idea of
identity - specifically the exploration of how one relates to ones peers, how
we try to assimilate and/or indeed rebel. Furthermore I was keen to respond to
this notion further by way of examining the hierarchy that can lie within the
string quartet model (with first violin often considered top dog). The result
is a playful structure where passages bound in unison become increasingly
volatile as our protagonist explores and then pulls at the very seems of the
ensemble, only to return to the point of unison at departure.
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