Chrysalis
Instrumentation:
Percussion quartet for crotales and electric fan
Duration: 10’
World Premiere: July 29 2022 at WHACKollective’s Rhythms and Rituals concert, Hanson Dyer Hall, Ian Potter Southbank Centre
Program notes:
Inspired by a Melbourne summer’s day spent trying to keep cool while composing, the piece was originally written for two performers and later adapted and expanded on especially for this concert. The rotation of the fan blade’s creates a delicate and rapid oscillation in the crotales’ resonance, similarly to a vibraphone motor. However, the pedestal fan’s role is as much aesthetic as acoustic, giving the effect of an art installation rather than just a musical work. The intricate choreography of the four performers, and the different types of interaction with the fan, imbues this work with a sense of ritual that is at once solemn and comedic: the commonplace agglomeration of metal and plastic looming over the audience is a decidedly amusing sight.