w19630
| Title | Farewell to Moving Parts |
| Contributors |
Jane Serter (composer) |
| Composition date | 2013 |
| Duration (mins) | 8 |
| Category | quartet wind |
| Instrumentation | Fl Ob Cl Bsn |
| Commissioned by | |
| Key signature | |
| First line | |
| First performed | |
| Notes | |
| Programme Note | In the digital age, mechanical machinery is increasingly becoming a thing of the past. This piece celebrates the machine age, as well as giving this particular machine its last rites! The rusting parts of the machine creak into life. They are led by the oboe, which starts and stops and stutters into life. The quarter tones emphasise the machine's difficulty in getting into the right 'groove' or 'slot', as the oboe tries to get to the nearest semi-tone. Gradually, the other instruments join in. All the instruments stumble along at different speeds, sometimes smoothly and sometimes disjointedly - and sometimes they are dancing! They try to keep going. For approximately the first four minutes, only three notes are used - with the quarter tones adding extra colour. After these four minutes, the piece becomes more lyrical, as the oboe gradually adds more notes - alternately one higher and then one lower. The oboe is attempting to get the machine to a final flowering. The melody gradually morphs into a twelve note sequence. There follows a much slower section. The machine is sad, bleak, lonely and lost. There are interruptions of repeated chords, sometimes fierce and sometimes benign and gentle. At the end of the piece, the oboe returns to the original three notes. They are enunciated rapidly in a final flourish. It is hoped that the 'moving parts' of the machinery also move the emotions. |
This work is associated with the following collection items:
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