A Stolen Satellite (2015)

Instrumentation: solo six-string electric violin & electronics (delay, reverb, and distortion)
Duration: 6:00
Call for Scores Successful Selection: Cambpelltown Arts Centre Veronique Serret Residency
Premiere: Veronique Serret at Cambpelltown Arts Centre "A Stolen Satellite and other works" concert, October 2015
Additional Performances: Veronique Serret, various

Program Notes

A Stolen Satellite uses Veronique Serret’s unique performance setup as an environment for the exploration of rhythm. In two sections – a free, arrhythmic introduction and strictly timed main section – looping and reverbs are used to weave a thick texture, relying on the generous range of the six-string violin.In the main section, looped rhythmic figures are stolen and repurposed by emerging and evolving rhythmic structures. Loops may initially sit comfortably within their rhythmic framework, but become complex cross-rhythms when added loops force us into new ways of feeling the pulse.A languid melodic theme weaves in and out of these complex structures with a contrasting freedom, providing a humanistic counterpoint to the relentlessly mechanical rhythms.