Helix

Piano Trio

Work Details

Helix
(2006)
I. archon : metron –
II. the biggest nothing of them all –
III. tarantismo –
WORK DURATION
20:00
WORK CODE
JP/HE
Instrumentation
Piano Trio
COMMISSION DETAILS
Commissioned by the New Zealand Trio with funding from the University of Auckland.
Premiere
New Zealand Trio, Waikanae, New Zealand, 15 April 2007

From the Composer

I went to quite a far place in terms of rhythm with Helix, but not necessarily in terms of time signatures and cross rhythms. Prior to writing Helix, I had been transcribing a lot of folk music from countries such as Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey and Egypt because I really wanted to understand what it is that makes the soloist's lines so amazing - what is the magic there? One of the things I figured out through transcription is that these expressive melodies that have sensuality and human earthiness about them tend to accelerate going into the centre of a phrase and slow down when coming out of it. I have applied this playing style in Helix using western notation, which required a lot of practice.