confined ->enclosed ->implied ->revealed

This piece was commissioned for Paul Roe to play, at the Galway Arts Festival in June 2000, and was first performed in situ, at an exhibition of art works on the theme of ‘containers’. It was a wonderful setting, and a great feeling to have the audience sitting literally ‘in’ the performance of the piece. I wrote this piece very much with Paul in mind, and his particular ability to explore the more experimental timbres contained within the clarinet. I’d also like to thank Ross Bencina – this was my first piece using his very nice software, Audiomulch.

Listening to music offers, among so many things, a refuge in which to be contained. Here, the digital sound provides a sonic container for the live performer. All the electronic material in this piece was created from an initial recording of the note ‘b’, played on clarinet. This note, less than a second long, is looped and played continuously throughout, though sometimes the original is almost inaudible, masked by its various incarnations and developments. The player doesn’t actually get to play a ‘b’ until the final section of the piece. Instead, the clarinet line gradually incorporates pitches to either side of this elusive goal, which it surrounds or ‘contains’ and – at the same time – strives to reach.