Max Charles Davies

Slow Motion Slide Show

Slow Motion Slide Show was conceived as a work where players of varying levels could perform together. It explores ways in which the two ensembles could remain separated in some way but still remain dependant on each other without using the more traditional “question-answer” antiphonal approach to the piece. Antiphony does play an important role however, but in a different way. The work comprises of three sections, the three “image slides” that the title refers to, and the music portrays each of these images starting as a blurred, unfocussed collection of colours, gradually coming into focus, and then dissipating, and the piece as a whole also follows this pattern. The first two sections are simply a series of chords, but are constantly blurred by melodic lines that grow out of them. The third section combines all the elements of the previous two into a choral, ending in a coda that brings the two ensembles together in a simple repeating statement of two triads. Throughout the piece, the two dectets play off each other creating a variety of colours, however the whole ensemble is untied in carrying the main musical argument, like antiphonal bells being sounded in an irregular pattern.