comforted by a static bond (2020)

comforted by a static bond

A timecode-supported polytemporal duo for Kingma System alto flutes

comforted by a static bond is dedicated to my friends and colleagues, the flautists, Carla Rees and Karin de Fleyt.

Duration: 12.35 minutes  

Program Note

There is no programmatic intention in what unfolds as sound in this piece: any or no relationship to the title and the sounding music is forged at the discretion of the composer, performer and listener. Despite this statement, there is an unfolding of material that manifests through contrasting sections of music to hopefully provide the listener with a compelling experience even without programmatic intent. It is the interplay between and within these sections that is the narrative content of the composition.

The material constituting comforted by a static bond stems from, in the first instance, each changing (2020), a series of pieces for Eb and Bb clarinets which are organised as solo, duo and small ensemble works and with these pieces being self-borrowed and enhanced materials from the violin part in always searching for home (2020), a composition that immediately preceded each changing, and where those materials were themselves self-borrowed and transformed from the violin 1 part of the 2016 string quartet, observation 5. In addition, a bar of material self-borrowed from liquid music (2017) for Bb clarinet is much expanded and developed in all these pieces (see below). It is the connectivity between the self-borrowed and transformed materials linking all these pieces that is the ‘static bond’ referred to in the title.

I am always fascinated how the combination of musical materials, in this case, the two alto flute parts, affects how these materials interact in time, constantly changing the vertical, harmonic and rhythmic relationships of the combined elements to alter how we perceive these materials when presented in different contexts and where such contextual changes can radically alter our perception of the sounding music.

You can find more information about the Kingma System alto flute and the work of Carla Rees by clicking here.

© Marc Yeats November 2020