Avian Riots
2010
Avian Riots was partly written during a stay in Spain, on the Cap de Creus peninsula. The sublime surroundings seem to be created for artistic inspiration – mountainous terrain, lapping ocean and breathtaking natural beauty. Perhaps regrettably, the piece seems to have absorbed none of this, and instead exhibits a sordidly urban quality, with angular lines, rhythmic irregularity and everywhere a sense of a race to the finish. It draws from the (already highly interrelated) influences of bebop, Messiaen, Nancarrow, and boogie-woogie.
What it lacks in subtlety, it makes up for in lack of it.
Instrumentation: Flute, Clarinet in Bb & String Quartet
Duration: c. 5″
Premier: 14 May 2010 by Raise Your Voice Collective – Jenny Dyson (fl), Jon Guy (cl), Christopher Jones & Michael Jones (vlns), Robert Guy (vla) & Anna Menzies (vc) – at Centro Bar, Manchester