Slow Motion Sleeper

Instrumentation: Triple Concerto for Flute (pic.fl. alt flt. bfl); Acoustic Steel String Guitar; Percussion (Drum Kit and Vibraphone

Composition date: 2014

The work is in three movements played without a break. In the opening movement a rhythmic guitar motif drives the beginning of the journey as the flute introduces the basic building block of the piece, an interval of a seventh. As the movement progresses, the double basses begin to function as the fourth member of Acoustic Earth, providing bass lines for the group’s lively interplay. The orchestra becomes more animated towards the end of the first movement as the rhythmic guitar motif turns into an insistent and increasingly dissonant force, eventually crumbling into a quiet passage that leads into the middle, slow movement. Here all is still, as the flute, now an alto flute and later bass flute, has the spotlight, accompanied by gentle, delicate textures in the orchestral strings. The last movement, the longest of the three, constantly threatens to become a mad jig but the orchestra and soloists manage to twist and turn the material away from this course. Towards the end there is a short cadenza featuring the trio recapitulating the third movement’s material before an increasingly furious section leading to a brilliant and wild ending. Peter Walton, 2014

Score and parts available on request, email using the contact page