Work
Asleep Upon The Iris
for prepared piano
About
In the composers words, Asleep Upon The Iris “explores the physicality of playing the piano from both inside the instrument and on the keyboard. It splits the instrument in two, setting a dialogue between struck strings and bowed ones, shifting between subtle differences in the quality of repeated notes on the keyboard and long bowed notes inside the body. The piece is about memory and how it informs the present; its imprint upon our senses and our actions. The title is taken from Dylan Thomas’s poem, On The Marriage Of The Virgin. Asleep Upon The Iris was written in 2023. It follows from a collection of pieces I wrote exploring extended techniques and preparations inside the grand piano. The project was generously supported by Creative New Zealand, SOUNZ Centre for New Zealand Music and Tamaki Makaurau’s Audio Foundation. I would like to thank Stephen De Pledge for lending his profound depth of knowledge and ability to the project.”