Output details

Entre Nous, for violoncello solo (9')

Entre Nous was written at the request of the principal cellist of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Jonathan Aasgaard, and first performed by him at the Liverpool Art Biennial Exhibition in November 2012 at METAL Arts Centre.

The challenge of writing for a solo line instrument was one I had not undertaken for many years. Additionally, I had become interested in the idea of developing a series of pieces from a ‘source’ piece, and whilst working on Entre Nous I was also developing Chants du Printemps (see below) from an earlier smaller work. I conceived Entre Nous as a ‘source’ piece, from which I would develop other, larger works. Research into appropriate methods of extension and elaboration led me to Boulez’s Notations and I undertook considerable study of this and other similar ‘expansion’ projects. It was important, therefore, that the material used in Entre Nous would have the potential for further development at a later stage, but it also affected the scale of Entre Nous. Since completing the solo piece, I have begun to expand it as a Cello Concerto (picking up an abandoned project) and a work for cello and electronics, working with collaboratively with my colleague Manuella Blackburn.The title, Entre Nous, therefore reflects the sense of collaboration which will be at the heart of the larger project, and in this, the first piece of the set, a starting point for the music itself. In effect, there are two ‘voices’ in the piece, engaged in a dialogue, in which one gradually becomes more animated whilst a more lyrical and reflective voice attempts to keep things calm. I have also attempted, in this piece, to continue the process of development of my musical language as described above in On Reflection.