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Enchaînements (1994) |
chamber orchestra - 15'
‘Enchaînements’ is a ballet term meaning linked chains of steps which enable a dancer to move from one position on stage to another. In a ballet - even one without a storyline - it is impossible for the dancers to move together, or to make visual patterns against each other, without setting up a series of fleeting human relationships. Similarly, in this ‘abstract’ piece of music, a concertante group (violin solo, viola solo, 2 oboes and 2 horns) moves around, and the players’ musical dialogues with each other make a series of different relationships within the group. The main string orchestra has a passive commentary-type role, until a sudden energetic CODA surprises the ‘soloists’ into taking new positions yet again.
Enchaînements is the first of two commissions for the City of London Sinfonia. First performance by CLS at St Bartholomew-the-Great, London 9 December 1994
© Diana Burrell