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Score in preparation

Programme Notes

Observed patterns of tapestry in the natural world—such as foliations in wood or stone, or
the‘lashtender combs’ of ash trees—occur frequently in the highly personal poetry of Gerard
Manley Hopkins. A through-grown earth draws on three of Hopkins’ texts, creating intimate
settings for voice, pre-recorded sound and (optional) moving image. Composed in non-tempered
tunings, the work demands a discreet virtuosity as it explores the subtle edges of the voice,
its tuning and sonority.
Sound
The core of the pre-recorded sound material is composed of retuned zithers—a painstaking process
that allowed me to be very precise with tuning and shift between microtonal modes in a way that
is impossible in live performance on acoustic instruments. This is interwoven with lines for
harp, voice, strings and electronic material.
Video
The video for A through-grown earth provides both a formal analogue for the music and a staged
element/scenography to the performance. Through various means, the video creates a convergence
of layers comprised of simple elements. It is conceived to be projected onto a single wall or
screen, or multilayered (on up to three surfaces).
Lisa Illean

A through-grown earth

Conservatorio de Música Jesús Guridi (Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain)

Juliet Fraser

Find Out More

A through-grown earth

Kettle's Yard (Cambridge, United Kingdom)

Juliet Fraser/Newton Armstrong

A through-grown earth

POSTPONED

Deutschlandfunk (Germany)

Juliet Fraser/Alexis Baskind

A through-grown earth

No Venue (Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy)

Juliet Fraser/Cassandra Miller

A through-grown earth

Premiere of version with film

MIRY Concert Hall (Ghent, Belgium)

Juliet Fraser/Lisa Illean