Elapsed (2020)

solo cello, fixed media

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Elapsed is a duet for solo cello with the fixed media electronics, which overlays a pre-recorded audio of the same piece played in reverse. This results in a palindrome-like structure where the two parts are moving across each other in time. The midpoint of the piece unfolds into a powerful unison moment for both the live performer and the track as they sonically mirror each other in reflection. The work explores various timbres of the solo instrument, which emerge in conversation with the transformed timbres of the same musical materials in the reverse track. Elapsed centers around the idea of sonic memory, misremembering, and re-emergence of the past, and challenges to listen to the time that flows in two directions sonically.

 

Commissioned and presented by Composers Conference 2020

Premiered on August 8, 2020 by Jacob McKay, Cello