Elegy (Tramp, with wheezing)

2007

fixed medium - stereo

2’00”

Commissioned by:

Red Note Ensemble

This elegy was written as a short piece accompanying a performance of Gavin Bryars’ iconic piece Jesu’s Blood, Never Failed Me Yet… The Bryars consists of a looped recording of a tramp singing the eponymous hymn, accompanied by lush chords from Bryars. My piece is an elegy for the tramp in the recording and is made up, for the most part, by a single isolated “wheeze” which was cleaned up and then stretched into beautiful long tones which weave around each other and disappear into the distance supported by a single chord frozen from the Gavin Bryars accompaniment.

Elegy (Tramp, with wheezing) was commissioned by Red Note Ensemble and premiered at Woodend Barn as part of the soundfestival in 2010.