Work
burr
for bass clarinet and viola
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About
Programme notes are the creation myths of music; titles their pseudonyms.
Some meanings packed into the word burr, which may well have affected the course of the composition:
A circle of light round the moon, or a nebulous disk of light enfolding it. A rough ridge or edge left on metal or other substance after cutting, punching etc. A rough sounding of the letter ‘r’; hence a rough or dialectal utterance, to speak with rough articulation. The Banyan tree. A whetstone.
From the above list, please choose your own red herrings.
If we change ‘dialectal’ to ‘dialectical’ in the above, it may give a good clue to what the piece is ‘about’.
Burr, finished in 1998, is the first – and so far the only completed – piece in a series called Three Shadow Pastorals, all duets for a clarinettist and viola player. The other two, rime and blaze, are dedicated to the memory of my mother, and John Coltrane respectively; burr to that of Morton Feldman.
Dedication note
to the memory of Morton Feldman
Contents note
one movement; first piece of "Three Shadow Pastorals"
Performance history
16 Nov 2002: Performed by Jim Sullivan (bass clarinet), Mark Menzies (violin); Disney Music hall, CalArts, valencia, California
01 Jul 2007: Performed by Richard Haynes (bass clarinet) and William Lane (viola), at Elder Hall, University of Adelaide, in Adelaide.