My starting point for this piece was an icebreaker CD (the ensemble for whom the piece was written).I found that there were aspects of the ‘Icebreaker sound’ that attracted me and aspects that repelled me.I realised that what I liked most was a kind of incisive rhythmic raw edge that has its roots in jazz and Stravinsky.What I disliked was the slightly sickly sweetness that a lot of the repertoire had, largely to do with harmonic language.My initial thoughts were to imagine the music Stravinsky would have written were he Scottish (Celtic folk music has always been important to me) and trying to keep the best aspects of the Icebreaker sound whilst ditching the worst ones.Naturally, as the piece progressed McStravinsky receded into the background as my own compositional decisions took priority.
The ‘folk’ material used is all original composed material.The jig at the beginning and the reel later are based on the same pitch material with just the metre changed.The pitches used are modal and very much like the pitches used in traditional folk music.The rhythmic material carries the flavour of traditional folk rhythms but I wanted to create tension and interest by adding/subtracting beats, hence the 6/8 occasionally increases to 9/8 and the 4/4 fluctuates between 3/4 and 5/4.
Against the folk material is set strongly articulated, highly rhythmic material almost in an Icebreaker style but slightly less comfortable.
I wanted to create a real tension between these two worlds at the start of the piece.As the piece progresses there are points of contact and some of the ‘Icebreaker material’ moves into the modal language of the folk material, suggesting the two worlds will finally find unity.But the peaceful resolution never really arrives.By the end of the piece there is a sort of unholy alliance, but it is not a comfortable one.