clarinet and fixed sound, 1994.

Score (note, this is a scan of a handwritten score, 26.4MB download)

Trilling Wire was commissioned by Jonathan Cooper, whose playing also features on the digital sound part, and is the source of most of the digital material, and the recording here.

The piece is dedicated to him, and was first performed at the Aarhus Concert Hall, in 1994, as part of the International Computer Music Conference. Quite a few clarinetists have performed it since – it’s a virtuoso piece and requires the performer, best amplified, to co-ordinate with a fixed sound part, but does not require extended techniques. The title is taken from T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets.

The trilling wire in the blood

Sings below inveterate scars

Appeasing long forgotten wars.

The dance along the artery

The circulation of the lymph

Are figured in the drift of stars.

Trilling Wire is recorded on London, a CD of music by Katharine Norman (NMC 034), also available by download.