Works » By Title » C » Caught in an Octagon of Unaccustomed Light (15:56 / 1987-88)

Commissioned by CKLN radio in Toronto Canada.

The composition continues the development of a musical based on the colour of unusual or unaccustomed acoustic sounds. In this case the predominate use of inharmonic timbres: metal, multiphonics, and a non-octave tuning system. These materials form the basis for a language that our musical tradition has for the most part ignored. A series of five sections, each of which are based on specific sound sources, has the listener “caught” by their interactions. Musical continuity is maintained by the reuse of similar gestures, colours, and tuning system. Overall structural integrity is maintained through a palindromic ordering of the sections. For example the first and fifth sections use the same sound world and likewise the second and fourth sections use another sound world. The third of middle section contains aspects of both sound groupings.