". . . singing every minute high up in golden-green blossom . . ."
for two (or more) pianos
This piece, for two or more pianos, was made as part of an ongoing collaboration with artist and writer Mike Collier. Having noticed the strange similarity between sonograms - digital visualisations - of songbirds and medieval neumatic notation, Mike and I drew out from a range of songs and calls from the different species that can be heard in the dawn chorus at Cheeseburn Grange, Northumberland any shapes that were reminiscent of particular neumes. Mike transformed these into large silkscreen prints, and I re-transcribed them into modern notation. Though based on birdsong, and in our shared experience of listening to birdsong, the piece does not try to mimic or represent birdsong. An example of one of the 22 unique silkscreen prints is reproduced in the conference paper "Singing the World" in the writings section of the website.
See Mike's own website for documentation of the original exhibition at Cheeseburn Grange Sculpture Gardens near Stamfordham in Northumberland - http://mikecollier.eu/current-projects/singing-the-world-a-dawn-chorus-at-cheeseburn