Shadow

For string instruments and sub woofer

Commissioned by Joanna Dramatis

Premiered in Perth, at Sound Unbound: Music from Visitors 29 July, 2016 by Decibel.

Performed by Joanna Dramatis and Cathy Irons at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, 16 August, 2016 and Women in Creative Arts Conference ANU, Canberra, 12 August 2017

Featured in the video installation by Kate McMillan, The Island Is Silent (2017) 3'20, at Momentum, Kunstquartier Bethanein, Berlin, Germany.
Performed at Cat Hoep Atlier, ZHdK, Zurich Switzerland, April 2024.

This is a work which explores the nature of very low, electronic tones and the way they relate to the timbre of string instruments. The three components 'shadow' each other in different ways, interacting, absorbing and reflecting each other throughout. The score is an electronic, animated graphic score, which has the low tones embedded in it. As in many of Hope''s works, the work is characterised by soft drones, noise techniques, glissandi and an ongoing interest in low frequency sound.

​In this work, each instrument chooses either red or green and follows that colour throughout. The pink part is the electronic part, which is embedded in the score; this line in the score is provided as an indication only. The score is proportional – the first notes are the highest, and piece descends in pitch down the page. The dynamic is generally soft throughout, and a thickening of the line is getting louder and denser (more bow pressure), and a fading of the line is a very, very soft dynamic. Circles are plucked, the larger the louder and more forceful. If two parts/lines are indicated, these mean different strings being played concurrently. A ‘scribbly line’ over a more static one is to be interpreted as interference of some kind.

The score should be read in the Decibel ScorePlayer app on an iPad.

It can can also be read as a video score available from the composer.
The electronic playback comes from the score – so should be amplified through a sub woofer at a soft, warm volume that never overcomes the acoustic instruments.