Spin (2012)

duration 9:00

flute, bass clarinet, cello, piano & drum set with soundtrack

Live recording with Christoph Both, cello; Derek Charke, flute; Steven Naylor, piano; Jeff Reilly, bass clarinet; and Tom Roach, percussion. Recorded by Don Chapman.

Spin was premiered by subText, on a program entitled ‘Synaesthesia’, April 21, 2012 at Saint Mary’s University Art Gallery in Halifax.’

'Spin' is about the idea of disorientation.  I imagine those who experience synaesthesia feel this often.  A soundscape of spinning bowls accompanies the ensemble.  Performers play cyclical patterns on an octatonic (diminished) scale, which itself never resolves.  A short melody opens the work, but is intentionally blurred.  As the work progresses, a series of short sixteenth note fragments -- each a different length, but same pulse -- erase the downbeat and repeat (spin!) for several minutes until (at last!) the opening melody is heard once more, accompanied by a coda of pointillistic attacks.