GEORGIMORPHOSIS

FOR SOLO CLARINET IN A (2019 - 2021), premiered by RAYMOND BRIEN

Georgimorphosis is an attempt to sonically mimic the effects of Escher's transformation prints. In pieces like Metamorphosis 1 (1937), Sky and Water (1938) and Verbum (Earth, Sky and Water) (1942), visual objects tessellate and seamlessly transform into others: fish into birds, birds into squares, people into houses. After composers like Adès, Kurtag and Finissy, who have notably used found objects 'quotations' in their own ways, I asked myself, would it be possible to use the methods of Reich and Donatoni to transform quotes by different composer Georges into each other?

Why Georges? The piece started life as a baroque flute piece written for Rosie Bowker but it kept getting out of control! When the piece was still for baroque flute, I looked closely at the Telemann Fantasias. Telemann's first name is Georg (Georg Philipp), and so materials transform banally between Telemann to Ligeti to Enescu to Haas to Benjamin to Gershwin to Handel (although not directly in that order). The point, if there is any, is whimsy!

It may also be evident that a couple of non-George-ian figures sit at the heart of this piece as well. The recurring harmonics trills and multiphonics refer to the sounds found in Sciarrino's Let me die before I wake (1982) and I've learned from his Anamorfosi (1980). I felt the influence too of Robin Holloway, a mentor of mine who I am hugely grateful too, who's Gilded Goldbergs (1992 - 7) and Silvered Schubert (2013) do much more than I ever could. Thank you Robin!

Thanks so much also to Raymond Brien, the clarinettist in this recording and dedicatee of this piece who put so much effort into this recording. Raymond is gifted beyond words in musicality, technique, imagination and kindness! Sitting in his flat with a cup of tea working on these agonisingly small details must have been very tiresome for Ray, but for me the time was always incredibly heartening.

Thanks also to Professor Julian Anderson CBE and Malcolm Singer for your encouragement and advice, without which I'm not sure I'd ever have conceived of trying to do anything like this before.

The quotations:
Ligeti - 6 Bagatelles (1953)
Ligeti - Violin Concerto (1990, rev. 1992)
Benjamin - Into the Little Hill (1996)
Enescu - Symphony 5 (1941 - 46)
Haas - Finale (2004)
Telemann - Fantasia 2, 3 and 5 (1725 - 1733)
Handel - Messiah (1741)
Gershwin - Rhapsodie in Blue (1924)
Handel - Fireworks Music (1749)