NOW!!

For Chamber Orchestra and Actors

Now is a work for chamber orchestra that was written for the last Futures project. The project involved 4 composers working with designers and artists from the GSA and members of the CCP course to create a work that reacted to the legacy of the political revolutions that occurred in 1968. Each composer chose a reaction to social change to explore in their piece; I chose the initial impetus behind social change and the coalescing of people and ideas to spark revolution. Now starts in a liminal, nowhere space with a melody in the bass clarinet which is taken by the other instruments who interpret the melody in their own way, reminiscent of Gaelic psalm singing of the Isle of Lewis. The entries of the instruments become more disparate and individual, everyone in agreement but with no order to their thought. Suddenly the guitar, electric organ and saxophone play a driving rhythm that slowly builds up from underneath the texture. Whilst still individuals, the strings and remaining winds start to lock in to the now prominent pulse. Once everyone is 'On the same page', the actors scream a political slogan through megaphones leading to a crashing interlocking climax.