CONTOUR (2012)

The mosaic structures are presented in CONTOUR in varying “distances” and perspectives. At the opening, the individual impulses and gestures of each instrument appear sparsely, each able to be heard and savoured for itself. Soon, however, the single events accumulate into a dense flow that draws the listener along irresistibly, while always containing just too much information to be entirely comprehensible. Even within the denser ensemble passages, however, there is variation and clarity, with instruments at times splitting off into groups that present a single, audible “contour”. A particularly prominent role is played by the pairing of piccolo and contrabassoon.

Alwyn Tomas Westbrooke

At the heart of CONTOUR lies a series of mosaic-like structures, in which each of the five instruments contributes to a single overall sound texture. The individual notes serve as “atoms” within an “irregular periodicity”, perhaps comparable to ocean waves, all of which may look very much alike, but which in fact differ subtly from one to the next. Another comparison might be with the silhouette of a mountain range, which, while consisting in reality of a mass of different points at varying distances from the viewer, appears from afar to be a single, uninterrupted contour.

The mosaic structures are presented in CONTOUR in varying “distances” and perspectives. At the opening, the individual impulses and gestures of each instrument appear sparsely, each able to be heard and savoured for itself. Soon, however, the single events accumulate into a dense flow that draws the listener along irresistibly, while always containing just too much information to be entirely comprehensible. Even within the denser ensemble passages, however, there is variation and clarity, with instruments at times splitting off into groups that present a single, audible “contour”. A particularly prominent role is played by the pairing of piccolo and contrabassoon.

Alwyn Tomas Westbrooke