Fretwork

A Nameless Pod for 5 viols. 1995

This piece gets its name from a poem by Emily Dickenson:

How many Flowers fall in Wood or perish
from the Hill without the privilege
to know that they are Beautiful!
How many cast a nameless Pod
upon the nearest Breeze unconscious
of the Scarlet Freight it bear to Other Eyes!

To create for myself the sound and the spirit of an ancient instrument (before the technical possibilities) has been a very fascinating experience for me as a composer. I had before me not only an instrument, but a very precise ancient instrumental ensemble, and in composing I have looked at not only the sound of the ensemble but also of the music of Henry Purcell.

There were two consequences: the first and most evident, though not the most important, is that the starting point of the piece is a little sequence from Purcell. At the beginning, the quartet (like four abstract voices) builds a kind of counterpoint around this sequence. The second is that the general atmosphere of the piece is quieter than it would have been if I had had to use a modern string quartet. In fact, influenced by the wonderful resonance of the sound of the viols, I just tried to let it float through the air, with tension but without anxiety.

Commissioned by The South Bank Centre. First performed 7th March 1995, The Purcell Room, London.

Published by Suvini Zerboni, Milan.