AFTERTOUCH (2015)

The title AFTERTOUCH refers to the MIDI parameter that is controlled by varying the pressure on a key after it has been depressed, generating further input signals. This principle has an analogue antecedent in the form of the clavichord’s tangent mechanism, which allows minimal undulations in the pitch of a sounding note, similar to vibrato (referred to as tremolo, or the German Bebung). In this piece, I treat each note’s attack and the ensuing signal modulations as two important formal building blocks. To begin with, the attacks are provided by percussive signals from within the grand piano, which, along with signals from percussion instruments, are complemented by three ‘reactive’ instrumental groups (winds, accordion and strings). The assignment of these roles (attack and modulator) vary amongst the instrumental groups over the course of the work.

Vito Žuraj (trans. Alwyn Tomas Westbrooke)