Olga Neuwirth. A page from the score of Black Dwarf
Peter Evans Animations (2023)
After composing my traditionally notated work Returns for Yarn/Wire in 2013, I was asked by the group and Lydia Rilling to create a new piece. The commission included an invitation to involve myself as a player and to explore a process that contrasts with our last experience together. As much of my work as a composer is in the role of a band leader, it seemed clear from the beginning that to create an interesting experience and composition with the ensemble, their role would be more as a band than as a traditional contemporary music ensemble. This is not just a semantic distinction; working in a band (as a leader, sideman, or in a fully collaborative situation) is a different type of musical culture than that of the average contemporary music ensemble, a culture more or less inherited by the European classical tradition.
For me and Yarn/Wire to approach realization of my piece with this mindset, nearly every aspect of the process is affected—the initial conception of the materials, the rehearsal process (many, many rehearsals), and of course the resulting performance. My work as a composer for my bands generally utilizes a variety of techniques: strictly notated material; cyclic forms for the purposes of improvising variations; freely improvised ‘scenes’ that connect more specified zones from one to another; and memorized material such as rhythmic patterns and melodic prompts. Added to these strategies in this case will be a language of specifically composed sound events that explore the unique instrumental timbres available to us. Working this way with the musicians upends and flattens many of the traditionally understood roles in the contemporary classical working environment, although in many other musical cultures it is considered fairly commonplace. My experience as a musician and composer who not only leads groups but plays in those of others has allowed me to gain a certain perspective in the creation of new works. This is true of Yarn/Wire as well. I have noticed already their considerable experience in realizing the ideas of others (ranging from hyper specific to very open) and their possession of a vast knowledge of their own sonic capabilities (individually and as a group), as well as a truly extrasensory listening group-mechanism. It seemed to me in the beginning stages of the conception for this piece that we should capitalize on our collective experience and actively engage it in the creation of this new music.
As part of our preparation for Donaueschingen, contrary to the (sadly usual) process of a few rehearsals and a single concert, we have developed the work in many stages over the course of months. Some of these sessions involved directed improvisation without any notation, others focused on repeating a single short rhythmic cycle that we digest and memorize to the point that it becomes second nature and available for improvised variations. Internal relationships between the musicians have been developed into bands-within-the-band, duos, trios. We have also performed iterations of this material a few times for a small, invited audience. Ultimately, it is important that the composition(s) we play evolve to have a life of their own, a kind of volition toward certain sonic or structural realities. It is this living quality of the music with which we will ultimately engage, not the instructions or notation alone. The piece itself will be a ‘set list’ constructed out of the many scenarios we have developed. It could be that only a few are used, or that we cycle through all of it in one go. I find this process to be more dynamic, and a little more human, than the typical method in the classical music world. I hope that that dynamism and humanity speaks through the music and our performance.
