Seven Duos

Commissioned by the Canada Council for the Arts, research funding from the Eric Stokes Fund and the Culture and Animals Foundation; for Annette-Barbara Vogel. In Seven Duos for Birds or Strings, I've explored many different ways two singing birds can relate to each other. Some are true duetters - each bird has its own part, and the two interlock in a specific way. In other cases, I've simply chosen a species where two or more birds may sing together, but not in a coordinated way. As well, each duo explores a different way that music can relate to birdsong. In some I've transcribed the song as accurately as possible (though I'm keenly aware of the difficulties of notating exact rhythms, pitches, and timbres - some bird-like particularities are always lost, while human musical and instrument-specific particularities are always added). In some the transcription is a starting point, from which the music develops in its own direction. And in others I've tried to recreate the general atmosphere of hearing the song, rather than transcribing it accurately.