Recrudesce


Year: 2011         instrumentation: flute, clarinet and bass trombone        duration: 3′

For: 175 East         premiered: 175 East cond. Samuel Holloway

Further performances: 175 East cond. Hamish McKeich

Programme note: The formula for realising this work:

– take existing quartet (2010)
– delete guitar and cello parts
– rearrange and pare down surviving flute and clarinet parts
– add bass trombone part

Why?

I’ve been interested in continuous recontextualisation of materials (transformed or unchanged) within single works for some time now; if I rip entire chunks from an existing piece and use them to build something else, to what extent is the resulting work new, and to what extent is it related? – and can this relatedness even be detected?

Furthermore, is composing in my usual mode as dependent on such high levels of compositional struggle as I had previously held it to be?

But primarily: this is the first work written since the arrival of my son about a year ago; time for composition remains limited and rapid solutions must be found