music - solos

The challenge of writing solos is made a lot easier when you get a chance to write for great musicians like Roger Heaton (clarinet) and Christopher Redgate (oboe). The range of timbre they achieve is amazing. In the most recent solo 'power of place' for oboe I got interested in using simple audience participation to heighten the experience.

Power of place - click to play

performers	Christopher Redgate
instruments	oboe
composer	lawrence reed © 2010
file size	8.1 mb
file type	mp3
duration	9 min

the power of place challenges the listener to focus on a the note C and, in doing so, perceive how it changes in various harmonic and rhythmic contexts. Perception is intensified by getting the audience to periodically hum it the note and cover their left ear with a resonant object attuned to an appropriate resonance around C (a plastic cup is used for the premiere). The place directly around C should often feel unstable and is created though movement of the performer and use of quarter tones. The piece has three movements

the first is a gentle exploration around the note
the second is a frisky and capricious dance around it
the third provides a more arrhythmic, dramatic and jagged context

musical score - wicklow market to shannon flow

download complete
score - pdf 168kb

playing notes
- pdf 40kb