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NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION 2010: Stop writing dishonest programme notes.

This work was conceived in the abstract and does not relate to human experience. It does not illustrate the composer’s state of mind, he having suddenly found himself awake in the middle of the night, unable to control his thoughts. While the experience of insomnia, especially when suffered over consecutive nights, can be physically and emotionally crippling, at times the abundance and insistence of multiple streams of unwanted thought (unruly Beta waves) can be, if not pleasurable, then certainly fascinating. This piece does not seek to illustrate this through music, nor does it sonically pose this question: why does the brain seize control of the consciousness and produce such a plethora of unwanted activity that sleep is made impossible and the host becomes miserable?

At times, certain thoughts seem to somehow rise above the melee of insomniac thought and become quite focused and of seeming import, however inane these might seem in the cold light of day. This is not portrayed in the music by infrequent parings-down of texture and emergence of single, insistent motivic ideas. The music doesn’t describe how such thoughts soon get swallowed up as the jumble of thoughts returns and the victim adjusts position once again, glancing desperately at his or her clock radio and resolving hopelessly to try to make yet another attempt at deep breathing and sheep counting work.

The composer could claim that the work is about these things, but that would be a lie; he no longer wishes to construct programme notes after the act of composition that conform to some conceivable extra-musical agenda.

This version of this work is the first of a number of versions, with another swapping cello for viola and another as a solo guitar piece currently projected.

The work was requested by Dylan Lardelli and is dedicated to this increasingly mythic musician.

• Watson, C.: about nothing...really; computer-set 

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The word abscission refers to the act of cutting off or shedding a body part, however it is most often used to describe a plant dropping one of its parts such as a fruit or a seed, or to a deciduous tree shedding its leaves in autumn. The word therefore has one meaning which could be taken to be savage and distasteful, yet in its most common usage the word conjures up a far more whimsical and melancholic association.

Structurally, the piece is made up of a series of loosely related ideas which interrupt or “cut off” each other as the work progresses, gradually moving from percussive stab chords at the beginning towards having a more serene character at the end. This work was largely influenced by George Crumb’s Eleven Echoes of Autumn and uses similar instrumentation, it is dedicated to the CHROMA ensemble.

• Eastwood: Abscission; computer set 

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This work for clarinet quintet in three movements was written following time spent in the north of Scotland, during which I visited the remote and desolate places that my family left behind when they emigrated from Scotland to New Zealand in the 19th Century. Although the music is not intended to be strictly descriptive, the image underpinning the work is that of an infinite shore that stretches from the line of steep cliffs at Badbea overlooking the North Sea, around the world to the rocky southern shores of Aotearoa New Zealand. The work draws on the tonal colour and extremes of pitch that are possible in the clarinet, and the extraordinary platform of sound of the string quartet.

• Webster: An Infinite Shore; computer set 

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• 5 Works by M Louise Webster 

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This version of Atthis is an adaption by the composer for Viola and Guitar from the original song for Mezzo-Soprano and Guitar. The text of the Mezzo-Soprano and Guitar version was based on the poem To Atthis by Sappho (c.630 BC).

• Adams, C.: Atthis; computer-set 

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• Samuel Holloway: Austerity Measures - hardcopy score 

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Bout is inspired by the sport of women’s boxing. In an interview with Canadian boxing pioneer Savoy “Kapow” Howe, I was struck by her detailed demonstration of the inner monologue of a fighter. Melodic and rhythmic material from her words insinuate themselves into the piece, along with referee’s whistles, counts and bells, training routines and the dogged persistence of the fighter.

Bout: A round at fighting; a contest, match, trial of strength, physical or intellectual.

• Palmer: Bout; computer set 

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• Juliet Palmer: Bout 

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• Adams, C.: Chamber Concerto for Tenor Saxophone and Contrabassoon/Bassoon; computer-set 

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• Chris Gendall: Eigene Gestalt - hardcopy score 

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• Chris Gendall: Eigene Gestalt; video 

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‘eye-glitter out of black air 1’ is part of a cycle of pieces written for the players of the Slovene wind quintet Slowind. To date, the cycle includes solo pieces for all of the instruments of the standard wind quintet, two wind quintets and a piece for wind quintet and orchestra.

• Hall: eye-glitter out of black air 1; facsimile 

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‘eye-glitter out of black air 2’ is the second version of a wind quintet that forms part of a cycle of pieces written for the players of the Slovene wind quintet Slowind. To date, the cycle includes solo pieces for all of the instruments of the standard wind quintet, two wind quintets and a piece for wind quintet and orchestra.

• Hall: eye-glitter out of black air 2; facsimile 

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