Contents: I. In Orbit, II. Departure Lounge, III. In Traffic
Program Note
I. In Orbit
This was written wondering what it would be like to see the Earth from space. It also serves as a hymn to the technology of satellites that increasingly connect our humble human communications.
II. Departure Lounge
Most commonly, this is at an airport. When travelling alone, this can be a place to contemplate the state of one’s existence while trying to find the right angle to perch one’s hand luggage as a foot stool. But this can also be at a train station – and Sydney Central boasts a (very) modest lounge for travellers waiting for the night train to Melbourne.
III. In Traffic
Statistics bear out that lane swapping in heavy traffic to maximise time and position is mostly a waste of time and dangerous into the bargain. What’s worse is nipping into the fast lane on a slight opening, only for it to become the slow lane. My advice? Take the bike or public transport.
These pieces have been published with key signatures for ease of reading, though were not conceived as conventionally ‘tonal’ pieces.
Performed by Rompduo
This piece, a flight of fancy for alto saxophone and piano, comprises three sections, each lasting about a minute or so. The first section kicks off in an energetic and cheerful way with the bright, upper registers of both instruments at play. Also evident in the opening section are ideas such as angular melodic lines played in unison, a little harp-like piano accompaniment texture and a contrasting theme fashioned atop a jazzy, dance-inspired bassline. The middle section of the work is perhaps the more unearthly music of the work. Little updrafts and whirlwinds of tinkling, glockenspiel-like piano figurations add a haunting quality to a chromatically inflected oboe melody, evoking, for me, images of night and a kind of magic. The final section of the piece – which brings us back to earth with its recapitulation of earlier material – is characterised by the sound of its ‘slow-to-start’, hand-cranked engine.
Performed live by Rompduo
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