‘Manipulations’ (2004) - 10'
(horn (or trombone) 2 perc [drums/vib,
woodblock/glock] vn vc db)
Premiered by the CLAN Ensemble, cond. Bjorn Bantock, with choreography by the London Contemporary Dance School. March 2004,The Place, London.
Excerpt from the live première below
Programme Poem
I manipulate the notes, take them through the rounds
From trilling crescendos to ethereal sounds
An uneven waltz, as if Satie's in cinders
Harmonics glissandi through cymbal shimmers
The next manipulation swivels and flows
Jazz bass flirts with quirky pizzicato
The drum kit's caressed and the groove kicks in
Trombone farts along to the din
Intensity builds through additive beats
Impudent interruptions confuse the feet
5 turns to 6 turns to 7 turns to 8
Rumba gets raped on a polymetric date
Clocking Woodblock coincides
With Balkanic ornaments in uneven time
Pulsing, mumbling contrabass dance
Morphs into cheeky Baroque sequence
Vibes and Glock chime a lonely tune
It soon disappears, the mischief subsumed
Into dark post-minimal postliminiary chords
The manipulations end.
The end of a War?
From trilling crescendos to ethereal sounds
An uneven waltz, as if Satie's in cinders
Harmonics glissandi through cymbal shimmers
The next manipulation swivels and flows
Jazz bass flirts with quirky pizzicato
The drum kit's caressed and the groove kicks in
Trombone farts along to the din
Intensity builds through additive beats
Impudent interruptions confuse the feet
5 turns to 6 turns to 7 turns to 8
Rumba gets raped on a polymetric date
Clocking Woodblock coincides
With Balkanic ornaments in uneven time
Pulsing, mumbling contrabass dance
Morphs into cheeky Baroque sequence
Vibes and Glock chime a lonely tune
It soon disappears, the mischief subsumed
Into dark post-minimal postliminiary chords
The manipulations end.
The end of a War?