(for tape)

Three Inconspicuous Settings (1998) (for tape)

Aquiles Pantaleão

City University
UK

Abstract:

"Three Inconspicuous Settings" sums up a varied collection of personal references. Unrealised ideas kept for many years, objects and observations from my daily life and current compositional interests suddenly met in the formalisation of this piece. This explains the choice of materials and the overall design of the piece's structure. There is also a distinct environmental inspiration though clear references to nature and the use of environmental sounds are few, invariably disguised within more abstract contexts.

But perhaps, more than landscapes or environmental settings, the piece is concerned with mental states or modes of perception. In this sense, the first movement - contemplative and static in its nature - best represents the intention to avoid my usual notion of development as the creation of a 'no-goal' state of things was attempted. In this case no particular sense of direction is suggested, and as the movement slowly unfolds, materials freely flow back and forth while avoiding sudden surges and dramatic impacts or conflicts. As such, the piece tries to surface the subjective responses drawn from the observer rather than a meaningful rendering of nature itself. Hopefully this is reinforced throughout the piece by the recurrence of similar events and morphologies and the ubiquitous presence of pitched materials coming in and out of textures.

The movements were called 'inconspicuous' as they may be undistinguished from one another due to their possible likelyhood. And also because they form what at first I considered to be a lesser or unimportant piece. But thankfully I changed my mind on that.

And before I forget... the movements are individually named as Outside (0'-4'42"), Inwards (4'48"-8'35") and Outbound (8'35"-12'24").