outpourings from a noisy brain
outpourings from a noisy brain: part 1
Dedicated to Aleksander Gabrys
for double bass
Written across two sets, outpourings from a noisy brain is a series of double bass solos designed to be performed in several iterations.
First, parts 1 and 2 can be played as complete through-composed solos. Second, any number of sections within parts 1 or 2 or drawn from parts 1 and 2 can be combined to create longer or shorter solos. Care is necessary when combining various sections to ensure conjunctions have suitable flow and cogency. Those choices rest with the performer.
Third, the materials in parts 1 and 2 will also form the basis for a further range of ensemble pieces that showcase the double bass as a solo instrument.
outpourings from a noisy brain are dedicated to the virtuoso double bassist Aleksander Gabrys.
Programme 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, an unfolding of material manifests through contrasting music sections to provide the listener with an experience without programmatic intent. It is the interplay between and within these sections that is the narrative content of the composition.
The material constituting this piece stems from, among other sources, the clarinet writing in the each changing series of pieces (2020-2023) that are themselves self-borrowed, transformed and enhanced materials from the violin part in always searching for home (2020), and where those materials were themselves self-borrowed and transformed from the violin 1 part of the 2016 string quartet, observation 5.
I am always fascinated by how the combination of musical materials with other content, in this case, the two solo flute pieces brought together to make a duo piece, affects how these materials interact in time, constantly changing the vertical, harmonic and rhythmic relationships of the combined elements to alter how we perceive this unchanged material when presented in different contexts. These contextual changes can radically alter our perception of the sounding music.
Duration: circa 17 minutes
© Marc Yeats | October 2023