programme note

The surface of the instrument – a channel, a passage, a bypass. Its strings, like skin; alive and breathing; buzzing and shaking; sweeping and scratching. Its bow, extending from the human that controls it. Together they form a continuous fluid being, exuding a torrid angst between existences. They are surrounded by perambulating voices – orbiting with their own existential imminence, threatening and coiling, writhing against the soloist. ‘let it pass, let it pass‘ they tell themselves – ‘let them flow between us, around us and our membranes. Let our pores open to their sonic expressions. Feel the embrace of it, not as a straightjacket, but as scarves knitted from threads found in lines rooted deep in their listening. Responding, guiding. Passing.’

let it pass, let it pass.. (2023-24) is an extended work for cello and ensemble, working between a concertante and chamber format to produce an arresting climate of offerings. The cellist and their instrument are pushed to the limits developed especially within the work, controlling levels of virtuosity within extremely intimate spaces. The surrounding ensemble converses with this melismatic language in fragments, passing through gestures with tumult and tension while surpassing the binary of soloist and accompaniment. The work was developed in close collaboration with cellist Urban Megušar, and is dedicated to him and .abeceda contemporary music ensemble – with thanks for their ongoing support.

In times of stress, a mantra: let it pass, let it pass; it’ll pass, it’ll pass…