Shadow of Attention, for flute (doubling piccolo), alto saxophone, piano and percussion
Performance by Ensemble Chromoson
[Shadow]
A dark area produced by a body coming between rays of light and surface.
I. The slightest trace of something.
II. A position of relative inferiority or obscurity.
III. An inseparable attendant or companion.
As a kid, I found shadows mesmerizing --- this silhouette figure that looked exactly like me, that copied whatever I did, seemingly ever-present, only to disappear when the lights went out. The multiple shadows casted by various light sources, each one different from the next, the sharpness of them varying with distance. It’s fascinating how when one chooses to give something attention, it gains a life of its own. In a similar vein, when one’s attention is transfixed on something, the rest of the world falls away --- merely a shadow to one’s attention.
In Shadow of Attention, attention is constantly being diverted to various “shadows” within the piece --- the imperfect imitations of a material’s character, the minute sounds that go unnoticed, the resonances that remains etc. A melodic phrase is constantly repeated, at times at the forefront of our attention, at times obscured, and at times forming a life of its own, with its own shadows.
What are you giving attention to right now? What are the shadows to your attention?
[Adaptation]
n. The action or process of changing something, or of being changed, to suit a new purpose or situation.
Adaptations of a Gesture is built upon a single gesture, that of repeated single notes which opens the piece, with each subsequent note occurring earlier than the previous (hence obtaining a direction). This gesture is then “adapted”, broken down into its various character traits: linearity, short impulses, minute variations within a repeating event, acceleration/deceleration etc., and then rebuilt. In each section, each of these aspects are utilised to varying degrees --- Imagine each character trait having a sliding scale, and each section being constructed by sliding the scale of each character traits to different values.
In Adaptations of a Gesture, the bassoon coexists with “machines”, electronically-generated sounds created using distorted sustained bassoon tones, as well as sine tones. One could view these as two extremes of a bassoon’s timbre. Throughout the piece, different sound worlds are established, the bassoon’s relationship with the “machines” changing with each section --- at times in conversation, at times competitive, at time complementary to one another.
Adaptations of a Gesture, for bassoon and electronics
Performance by Christoph Wichert