Birdsong in isolation (2023)

Commissioned by Carla Rees for PLAY! Festival 2023

Programme Note:

Written for esteemed flautist Carla Rees as part of the 2023 PLAY! Festival, this work for alto flute encapsulates a birdsong which never receives a reply, causing the bird to become more frantic and erratic at the though of isolation.

The piece embodies a figurative birdsong which calls out into the performative space but never receives a reply. As the realisation and terror for such isolation becomes more and more damaging, the birdsong evolves and transforms into an erratic and distressed call until its energy is completely exhausted, leaving the birdsong to be slowly consumed by the elements. Constructed of short motivic cells within an overall form void of barlines and/or metre (sensa misura), this work aims to capture the beautiful yet hostile way of life that the animal kingdom presents to all wildlife.

Premiere performance:

Carla Rees at Royal Holloway, University of London (April 2, 2023)

​