Performance Notes for "Aftonian Sequenza" (Premiered in Sarajevo) and "Counterfly"

Conductor Fuad Šetić and lovely impro ensemble: Amila Ravkić-Mezzo, Andreja Boltek-Flute, Ilma Cagalj-Clarinet, Zuhra Melić-Horn, Suada Kurić-Violin, Anela Botticini - Cello, Tarik Kamaric-Guitar, Ammar Biser-Guitar, Ismet Skrobo-Guitar, Muharem Osmanagić-Accordion, Emina Huskić-Piano, Hanan - Flute + guests concert: Kenan Kojic - Piano and dino rešidbegović - piano.

Program: Cornelius Cardew, Hoods stock-Ramati, Bil Smith, Dino Rešidbegović, Kaća Hadžifejzović, Ivan Dujmović

Performance Notes:

Aftonian Sequenza is an obvious nod to Luciano Berio’s solo ‘Sequenza’ pieces which are a large influence in my work in general.  This score is essentially three vignettes in which you can capture the continuity in the visual score, yet with each successive page the score becomes more disruptive.  The frenetic notation in the third page is meant to mimic that of a short wave radio and I would ask the solo instrumentalist to interpret it as such.  The lone boot suggests to the instrumentalist to stop, and stomp their foot on the floor at approximately half way through the work.

In this piece, the link between synthetic sound and philosophical performance should always be self-evident—it’s about getting under the surface, and abstraction... it is about challenging inherited conceptions of what it means to be a musician, what it means to sense, to understand, or to think. This means expanding your perception of the world through new musical concepts, using philosophical performance to break down what’s known and familiar until you realize that underneath those recognizable ordinary surfaces there’s a whole world of intricate abstract mechanisms working away.

Counterfly is inspired by a character in the Thomas Pynchon novel “Against The Day”.  As this novel opens, the ‘Chums of Chance’ (who are a pack of children) are floating aloft in a hot air balloon.  The intention is for the  performers to assume a more minimalist, whimsical…even child-like approach.  In one performance, I encouraged the performers to exchange instruments for a short passage.

I compel the performers to recognize that there’s a really beautiful process where, if you have integrity and pay careful attention to how this music thing is growing, how it presents itself, what it connects to, and if you make only the right compromises (because you’ve got to make some), then it becomes much bigger than either of you as performers.  ,Then the composition and performance becomes something real, has a certain independence from you, and in effect tells you what you can and can’t do with it.