Sound piece
Trio for two large similar paper things and one 5-pin bowling ball.
An interpretation of composer Beth Anderson’s score Valid For Life, from the publication Womens Work, a magazine first edited and self-published in 1975 by Alison Knowles and Annea Lockwood.
Comissioned by Issue Project Room for their With Womens Work series.
Online premiere, February 2021.
“Gazing over Beth Anderson’s wonderful graphic score of the letter R in various typefaces and sizes had me hearing the sound of rolling r’s in my head. In Anderson’s original score she asks the players to perform rolls (with a velvet beater) on classic instruments – piano/harp and membranophones. I took a different approach, in part out of necessity due to the limitations of the current situation – an extended lock-down in Berlin, with no studio and inhabiting a small 1-room flat that I share with my partner, but more particularly by looking at it from a conceptual angle and applying my usual methods of working with non-typical instruments. I adhered to the score’s call for the piece to be a trio. From there the work was born out of the evocative nature of her playful page of R’s – tongue twirling rrrrrr’s, rolling vibrations, rumbles and quiet purrrrs…
My 2014 piece titled ‘keeping the ball rolling’ is meant to be metaphorically rolling in perpetuity and recently it has felt stiflingly paused with the events of this very challenging past year. While pondering Anderson’s score, an auspicious feeling struck me that set this piece back in motion. The feeling (and sounds) of movement and momentum conjured by this meeting feels somehow reassuring at this moment in time.“
This piece was released in 2024 on the solo album ‘Making Conversation‘ on Black Truffle Records.
image below of Beth Anderson’s original score, Valid For Life
crys cole 