Gwyn Pritchard: Nebulae & Episodes

Nebulae & Episodes was composed in 2005. The piece contains three substantial sections in which the performers must not attempt to rhythmically coordinate their diffuse and fragmentary materials with one another; by analogy ‘Nebulae’, which astronomically are defined as diffuse masses of interstellar dust or gas. Unlike astronomical nebulae these sections include some critical moments when the materials momentarily coalesce in such a way as to hint at  possible relationships between the players which might potentially be developed.

These relationships, based primarily on timbre (for example the two string instruments, or the piano and vibraphone) give rise to much more defined materials which re-emerge  as longer episodes, strongly contrasting the ‘Nebulae’ from which they were born. However, by virtue of their defined characters, these episodes when juxtaposed or superimposed also conflict with one another, creating a different type of contrast and tension within the piece as a whole.