Here’s a live recording of ensemble recherche at Rainy Days festival a couple of years ago, playing steel rosette:
For 7 musicians and an array of transduced snare drums, my favourite moment is about 5 minutes in when instrumental harmonies are dimly audible through a mist of fizzing snares.
Hardy shrubs bloom death perennial
— grey rosettes for hard-fought rootwork.
The way that green goes silver with the sun,
stone stays stubborn stone.
What if this burl washed smooth against the beach
could sprout the scent of jasmine,
thin the afternoon sweat of hot pine,
scoop up the wake and divide it, thumb by foaming thumb,
to sweeten the bleached horrors that circle through the garden?
— May 2021
Back in May, ensemble mosaik gave a beautiful live-stream performance of union|haze as part of forma Leipzig’s 10th anniversary festivities alongside works by Alberto Posadas, Kelley Sheehan, Kai Johannes Polzhofer, and Liza Lim. union|haze as well as the pieces by Kelley and Kai are still available to watch on YouTube.
“I bought a fog”
to consternation say
Across the lab a perplex gaze
But
He can’t tell
If it was me or something fatter
That brokered language to this point
I hear that they are ceding rain over Siberia
And at the lake
Hourly clouds draw crowds
All I wanted was to brew tea
and speak my joy
But
A wait of coin is falling from the sky
I have just arrived at the Fondazione Orfeo in Positano, Italy, for a four-week residency where I will be working on music for ensemble mosaik to be premiered in September. If I can stop staring at the sea, I might actually get round to doing some work.
