Quirk No.7 ‘Slides, Cuts, Rolls and Crans’ (2011)

for flute and clarinet/bass clarinet. Violin duo version also available.

Duration: Variable.

Commissioned and premièred by Concorde. Performed by Madeline Staunton (flute) and Paul Roe (clarinets)  Rubicon Gallery, Dublin,
Ireland. 13th November 2011.

This is an aleatory/improvisational minimalist piece which explores four different ornamentation techniques of traditional Irish music.

Programme Poem

There’s some special techniques in Irish trad

Some are quite simple, others are mad

There’s yearning slides like banshee wails

There’s cuts and taps, flicks with the nail

There’s flowery rolls with rapid attack

There’s gurgling crans that’ll take you aback

Now in this piece the musicians explore

These unique sounds placed into a score

They’ve freedom to choose different figures to play

They’ll move around you and improv away

The way it’s composed is undefined

It’s as much the performer’s piece as mine

I’m letting the musicians be creatively free

So if you don’t like it, don’t blame me!

Dave Flynn 9th November 2011

 

What the critics say…
  • “A duo for wooden flute and clarinet that infuses a contemporary idiom with Irish traditional music features. The piece – with the players moving about the space – begins slowly and with gentle quarter-tone slides, then moves to quicker, more dancing tempos before returning to the reflective mood of the opening.”
    Michael Dungan, The Irish Times