Output details

Night Fishing

This is an example of an original composition sharing new insights into the relationship between musical materials at the smallest and largest scales. Commissioned and first performed by the Red Note ensemble, Nightfishing explores the slow evolution and transformation of material within the frame of a substantial single-movement work for large ensemble. The researcher’s meticulously detailed working out of the tiny tonal inflexions of the opening alludes to the wider compositional process of forging a musically coherent form. This, then, stands in contrast to the researcher’s other outputs, in which there are specific external stimuli and more easily articulated research questions.

The composer explains: 'This commission was an opportunity to step back from collaborative work with other artists, and to deal more squarely with my own compositional processes. While many of my other recent pieces have been clearly related to an externally conceived research premise, Night Fishing allowed me to address issues that were burning away internally. I did it purposively because it was difficult for me – something I wouldn’t normally do – and a chance to work out a rigorous compositional process without external scaffolding, to understand better why that can be a significant research goal in itself. What is it that makes music music, what draws us to it, and what makes it interesting to listen to?'