I, The for speaking clarinetist and video

- analytical commentary

In this piece, I was concerned with the relationship between sight and sound,
and the mode of listening that music generally elicits. I attempted to construct a
listening score without which the piece wouldnt make any sense, and I also
attempted to construct a score that could be reasonably read (or at least the parts that
were important to me) by someone inexperienced with score reading.

he piece begins, in several ways, by the construction of a language. he
language of the score! s"uared noteheads represent a dull, metallic speech, and are
rhythmically exact and syllabic# symbols are associated with sounds. he language of
the music! each individual $cell% is directly named and presented (i-& to '). he
language of language! the s"uared noteheads have a certain sounds, the $free%
speech is absent from the score, drawing attention to its free-flowing "uality. (ome of
the expectations set up here are later broken# the s"uared noteheads that represent
one syllable throughout begin to stand in for absence about halfway through the
piece as the clarinetist begins subverting the cellular processes through additions of
their own and the s"uared noteheads arent accompanied by a sound.

hese are the elements that create the piece. he basic opposition is between
rigid formalistic working ) combinatoriality of simple cells# cells that are timbral and
rhythmic as well as pitch-based ) and a kind of natural approach! the players
reminiscences of beginning to play the instrument and what draw them to it, $pure
sounds% (multiphonics and other extended techni"ues), generally drawing attention
to themselves and their sonic "ualities through absence in the score, and a small
"uotation! My Favourite Things from The Sound of Music.

*+ue to the problems of reception involved in using "uotation, I usually shy
away from it, but in this case the serendipity was simply too glaring! the name of
both the song and its provenance identified clearly with the structural role of the
"uotation, and its opening notes, , and -, provided a direct opposition to i-& (. and
+), the central and most problematic cell of the $calculated% part of the music./

he piece follows a direct conflict between the two approaches, with the fight
stemming from the clarinetists attempt to define their own identity# through history,
sound, and music. Interruptions and subversions are the most palpable ways in
which the dispute is manifested, and a growth and change in the "uality of the
silences (both through their contextualisation and textual designation) should
escalate the tension, leading up to the $blank slate% silence. his is preceded by a
saturation of expressive techni"ues in combination with sonic devices (singing and
playing, multiphonics) ) the clarinetist is allowed to elaborate musically, with the
$permission% of the composer (the opposition of $natural% and $calculated% musics,
wherein one is directly identified with the personage of the player, leads very
"uickly to a personification of the opposite pole as that of the composer# this
distinction, is of course, ultimately false, as it exists within the confines of a through-
composed piece of music, i.e. in the thought experiment of one composer).

he preceding section also creates a sense of stasis, as the score, which has
previously included at most a few bars of music, here, the screen will stay the same
for a much longer period, allowing the listener to look back over what has been
played. he faster flow also helps the inexperienced reader of music# here, they are
left to flounder and simply listen, again drawing attention to the sonic "ualities of the
music.

.fter the break, the music is built up again as if from first principles,
beginning with the cell formerly known as i-&, now transplanted to the neutral level,
called simply i-+-.# this eventually becomes Ida, completing the process of
$becoming%# creation of identity through subversion, amalgamation and a use of
found materials and serendipity, ending in a drawn out disappearing process of
$pure sounds%.