Die Abkehr. Composition for Ensemble. Commissioned by Ensemble Musikfabrik and Kunststiftung NRW.World Premiered in Oct 2017 by Ensemble Musikfabrik (cond. Stefan Asbury); WDR Funkhaus am Wallrafplatz, Kiln. Published by Verlag Neue Musik.
- Submitting institution
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Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance
- Unit of assessment
- 33 - Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies
- Output identifier
- Hayden2
- Type
- J - Composition
- Month
- October
- Year
- 2017
- URL
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- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
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- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
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- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
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- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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0
- Research group(s)
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- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- Die Abkehr (Turning Away), commissioned for Ensemble Musikfabrik, is the latest of a cycle of pieces combining ideas related to ‘spectral’ traditions with algorithmic compositional approaches: fundamental aspects of the pitch and rhythmical materials are computer-generated, via bespoke digital tools researched and programmed by the composer using IRCAM’s OpenMusic. The piece is constructed around harmonic cycles based on OM-interpolated transitions between inharmonic microtonal pitch fields (24TET) and (more) harmonic spectra. An important sonic feature is the extensive use of multiphonics and overtone harmonics, extended techniques, researched in close collaboration with Musikfabrik’s woodwind players, Helen Bledsoe (flutes), Peter Veale (oboe/CA) and Richard Haynes (contrabass clarinet). Variety is achieved through the use of permutations of rhythmical series and their subdivisions, compressing or expanding the harmonic cycles within extended or short durations, resulting in slow transitions or brief energetic moments. The piano has an important structural role, providing the harmonic basis from which other linear materials emerge in the surrounding ensemble. Likewise, the percussion emphasizes the underlying OM-generated metrical structures and their rhythmical subdivisions. The sonic surfaces ebb and flow, coalesce and decompose, in a constant state of flux. The music moves between dense virtuosic textures to moments of clarity, between linear polyphony and sustained timbres, but never settling one way or the other. The ensemble members are in perpetual dialogue, at once asserting individuality and collective inseparability in a tension that remains unresolved. The piece is in three movements although it runs continuously, movements I & III being the most complex, polyphonic and restless, movement II being somewhat slower and sparser. As the piece progresses, the music increasingly departs from what were initially quite strict and formalised OM-derived structural principles. The more poetic meanings of the title hint at a critical commentary on the increasingly nostalgic and inward-looking culture of the UK.
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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