Minuet On/Off

This is a piece composed for the group Automatic Writing Circle (AWC) and was commissioned for the opening of the Sonic Fusions festival in April 2014.

It engages with the structural issues presented by the Minuet (in its 17th and 18th century variants) and with the limits of improvisation, understood in terms of the dérive.

The piece explores the idea of whether music can be switched On/Off, and links this to transitions between degrees of Light and Darkness in the theatrical illumination of the performance space. It is for 4 musicians (Baroque flute, Ney, Cello and Ouija Board) and has a duration of 40 minutes.

For the opening performance the artist Aura Satz was commissioned to produce a series of 3 photographic images which were projected onto the background at key transitional moments in the piece.