Breath, Contained III

Duration:

22'

Breath, Contained is a creative practice begun in 2013 that explores air packaging, or ‘bubble wrap’ as a musical instrument. What began as an academic assignment on live processing with electronics has led me to a long-term relationship with a seemingly silly object, one that has taught me much about sound, performance, and aesthetics.

Breath, Contained III is the largest iteration of the project to date, featuring amplified soloist with chamber orchestra. This concerto is a synthesis of free improvisation practice on bubble wrap and more traditional composition for orchestral instruments. Rather than designing a wholly improvised environment for the orchestra, or the soloist subscribing to Western Classical notions of specificity and virtuosity, the work imagines a third alternative space for the musicians to play together. The orchestral textures are largely fixed, yet are thoroughly informed by the pitch content, timbres, and rhythmic pacing of bubble wrap improvisation, including the use of electronics. Thus in addition to rendering acoustic bubble wrap sounds, the ensemble also reflects the various filters and resonators of my electronics set-ups and their effects on the overall sound.

The idea of bringing together disparate elements applies to other aspects of the work, merging a simple mundane object with intricate instrumental mechanisms, and chaotic noise with ordered harmony. The classic trope of ‘one versus many’ in a concerto extends to the soloist’s own realm, as the final section is played entirely on one bubble. On one hand, this concerto represents a utopian view, that anything can be made musical. On the other hand, it simply reflects a contemporary reality, where one is constantly dealt a chaotic, jumbled, and random set of things, out of which we can try to make some sense.

Bubble wrap performance centers on friction techniques: the speed and pressure with which my hands come into contact with the material surface. While ‘extreme’ friction does feature in some of the instrumental writing, what interested me most in scoring the work was to distill a set of playing techniques that convey intensity and tension. These include exploiting air pressure and resistance, pitting muted and resonant versions of the same sound against each other, as well as beating and warbling tone qualities.

My inexplicable reluctance to pop runs in parallel to the emotional qualities that interest me as a composer: pent-up energy, unreleased emotions, Breath, Contained.

All packaging material used in my projects is scavanged or donated by the community, never newly purchased. I am indebted to the support of Contemporaneous, particularly Dylan Mattingly and David Bloom who so kindly responded to my ideas back in 2017. The work was made possible by the 2021 Koussevitzky Commission. I would also like to thank the musicians who have participated in Breath, Contained I & II and those who have improvised with me over the years – their expertise and diverse perspectives have provided me with invaluable lessons and moments of inspiration.

Commissioned by the Koussevitzky Foundation at Library of Congress for Contemporaneous