Nest of gravel (2020)

Instrumentation: pianist and percussionist at the piano.
Duration: 6 minutes
Commissioned by Kupka’s Piano

Programme Note
Tactile, granular, and confined.

Nest of gravel captures some of restrictive, monotonous, at times claustrophobic nature many of us have experienced as a result of lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic. Movement is highly restricted over the physical regions of the piano as the keyboard, pedals, and strings rattle, scrape, and grind against each other. The bed of sound creates a certain unease, constant agitation and a longing for reprieve.

For some, lockdown has meant resort-like living, unburdened by financial worry. For others, it has entailed police presence, cage-like confinement, and an amplification of already tenuous socio-economic conditions. The detainment of refugees, political prisoners, and minorities has been a reality of society well before 2020 and it must be remembered that what many have experienced recently is but a drop in the ocean of what systematic and weaponised confinement entails.

Performance History
10th Oct 2020: Brisbane Music Festival (Online), Brisbane Qld, Australia – Kupka’s Piano

Score Availability:
A3 full score, contact me.

Recording:
coming soon…