Ex Machinis
2011
Ex Machinis is a concerto for two virtuosic pianos, with a subsidiary concertino duo of pitched percussion supporting and shadowing the two soloists. From a bleak and static opening gradually emerges a quick perpetuum mobile, with the pianos presenting monophonic material in semiquavers. Repeated notes and staircases of ascending and descending lines form the bulk of this section. A desolate central section of the piece sees more gestural material in the pianos, punctuated by violent trombone glissandi. The toccata material returns, now accompanied by a cantus firmus beginning in the lower instruments, building to a climax and a short coda for the two pianos.
Ex Machinis means ‘from the machines’, and is a reference to both the machine-like aspect of the pianos’ mechanism, but also to the use of repetitive and generative rhythmic procedures that govern a lot of the piece’s material.
Instrumentation: piano x 2, fl (+picc), ob, cl (+b. cl), hn, tr, tmb, perc (2 players), string 4tet, db
Duration: c. 16″
Premiere: 5th Feb 2011 by University of Manchester Chamber Orchestra, Cosmo Rodewald Hall, Manchester