Output details

'My Broken Machines': portrait CD, including Stop Motion Music for ensemble (2010); Slow Down, for piano trio (2011); Ghosts, for amplified viola d’amore (2008)

My Broken Machines is a portrait CD released in 2011 on the NMC Recordings label (NMC D169). The collection features seven compositions composed over a six-year period: Stop-Motion Music (2010), Slow Down (2010), and Ghosts (2008-2009) are the most recent works included (scores submitted) and all utilize amplification. Stop-Motion Music was commissioned by the Crash Ensemble and first performed by them at the Samuel Beckett Theatre, Dublin in 2010; Slow Down was commissioned by the Fidelio Trio and first performed by them in New York in 2011; and Ghosts was commissioned by the Irish Cultural Centre and Garth Knox, and first performed by him in Paris in 2009. All of the works have subsequently received many performances at events including Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, November Music (Netherlands) and the Out Hear Series (Kings Place, London). An hour-long feature on My Broken Machines was presented on RTÉ Lyric FM (Ireland’s national broadcaster) soon after it was released, and works from the CD have been broadcast on various radio stations internationally.

Through composing and recording this collection Bennett sought to: (1) investigate the possibilities of composing for amplified ensembles and instruments; (2) develop collaborative practice by working closely with performers in the making of the works; (3) create rhythmically complex music using simple notational methods; (4) create clear and extended musical structures using a minimum amount of material; (5) investigate the possibilities of composing for the viola d’amore, an instrument not normally associated with contemporary music idioms.

My Broken Machines is a collection of original creative works in the field of practice-based research. The collection can claim some significance in contributing to the development of repertoire for amplified and unusual instruments. The album has received critical acclaim at an international level and was Chicago Time Out’s No.1 Contemporary CD of 2011.