electroacoustic composer

Shards (2006), for flute and tape.

Performed by Catherine Coulter, RSAMD, 29th May 2006.

This piece represents an abstract exploration of the tensions, violence and bitterness which have been felt in Northern Ireland, a subject which is particularly close to Catherine Coulter, having grown up in Belfast. I was intrigued, and shocked, by her first-hand accounts of underlying tensions, hostility, secrecy, sectarianism and violence, at its worst in the 1970s and 80s but still to be found today.

The material in the tape part uses recordings of the flute and through processing exaggerates gestures which result from techniques of overblowing, harsh articulation and key clicks. This is used alongside sharp metallic sounds, which relate to the physical construct of the flute, but more importantly create a sense of breaking and scattering. While initially the flute and tape are tentatively held together, an intense section of warped and twisting pitched material marks their divergence. There follows a power struggle between the precision of the constant pulse of the flute contrasted with unpredictable sweeps and scuttling in the tape part.

The aim was to create an abstract piece which explored dark energies and underlying tensions while retaining a sense of poignancy. The title refers to the broken, sometimes stuttered flute writing, the shrapnel and shattered artefacts produced through the bombings and gunfire, and from a more emotional perspective, the torn lives and emotional scars which result from such violence.

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